Meet 30 Yr Old Mechanical Engineering Graduate Who Makes Ksh 2M From a Side Hustle

By Florence Mukunya,

Zachary Njoroge Mwaniki is a young person who despite having very high ranking educational papers, he has chosen to be in the farming business where he grows french beans, okra and chillies.

But what drives such a young person to go into farming while  it’s considered by many to be a job for those who are less educated or the retiring ‘wazees’?

Zach as he is commonly known by his peers is a Mechanical Engineering graduate from University of Nairobi and is currently working on his Masters in Strategic Management at Daystar University.

“I had my first employment with one of the leading hotels in Kenya for almost six months with no pay before I decided to call it quits.  By then I didn’t have experience to allow me get an engineering registration certificate to  operate . I later joined BAT (British American Tobacco) and thought why not start something that can add value to my skills as I wait for my license and that’s how I settled on horticulture farming,’ he says

“In the beginning I did it as a hobby but after two years I decide to go commercial. He confesses that, “I had saved around 60k from several of my side hustles which I used as my seed capital.”

To start of his venture, he needed a conducive land for farming and since he didn’t have any, he decides to lease land.

“I did  research and found out that I could lease land for around 8k for an year, but what shocked me was the amount I needed for a green house. To acquire a green house, I needed 120k.”

He says he didn’t have that kind of money adding that, “I utilized my engineering skills and constructed one for myself which cost me around 20k .”

There are many challenges that are bound to face a young farmer dealing in horticulture farming. Did Zach have any challenges?

“Well, I am not a farmer by profession and in the early stages I could not afford to hire anyone. He adds that, ” I did my farming the jua kali way and it did not give me the kind of results I expected.”He confesses one of his challenges to be of the climate. “You find that in Agriculture, especially in horticulture you are always fighting with nature, when it’s cold you need to raise the temperature and when it’s hot you need to lower the temperatures which is costly”

He adds that, “Aside from that, when it comes to marketing,  people right you off almost immediately because of the young face and the fact that you are not grey haired. They always assume that you can’t deliver and because of that it took me a long time to get my export license,” adds Zach

Zach managed to get his certificate of operation and finally got into the formal employment.

“I still practice engineering on my own but farming still has more opportunities. You find that in Kenya, we have 40% arable land for farming and the equivalent for farming under irrigation, it’s time we realized that with such resources we do not need to do subsistent farming instead we should embrace farming as an industry and realize its potential in the global market. Farming is responsible for the 45% of GDP in Kenya, and for this reason I continued with the farming,” says Zach

And how much does he make on a good month?

“In business once you start to quantify, you limit your growth. You find that in commercial farming, you will obviously make money but in the first three years or so you don’t actually pocket it. If you are wise, you invest in your business. He adds that he makes about Kshs 2M in a fair month and on a good month he can make about Kshs 5M.

The 30 year old farmer says passion for successes is what drives him. “I fear failure but I also know that taking chances is not an option.”

And his advice to young people who would want to practice farming entrepreneurship?

“Start small and build on it. A lot of Kenyan youths want to start and build an empire in 5-10 years which is impossible, just look around and read widely,  you will see most of the celebrated business empires locally or abroad were built in 30-50 years. Also believe in yourself 100%,” he stresses.

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