As a young boy, Odera Wayayi's dream job was to be a medic. And while he is glad that dream came true, he has since found greater happiness in farming.
Odera, 54, grew up in Khwisero subcounty, Kakamega county, on the border with Vihiga county. After schooling, he was hired as a public health officer for Siaya county.
While working for the government, he never thought of doing farming.
"Most of the time, I considered it a job for unschooled people," Odera said.
"That was then, before I knew how lucrative farming is."
He says farming pays more than those who rely on a monthly payment that is heavily taxed.
While in Siaya as a public health officer, Odera started keeping chicken just for family consumption and had no thought of doing it on large scale.
With time, he found it was not costing him much to rear the chicken, so he allowed the production to boom.
"While still in Siaya, I started doing traditional vegetables just for family and not for the market," he said.
Odera says back in the 1990s, his neighbours would visit and buy a few vegetables, eggs or chickens as well.
Most of the sales were being done by his wife, and she raised at least Sh3,000 on a weekly basis.
"Now where I was staying, I had enough space. People started convincing me to do it for market purposes," Odera said.
"I was not for that but just to try as friends had said. By then was in Siaya county. All of a sudden, I was impressed by the results, based on what I was being given back by my wife."
Odera says he took it up on a serious note, but now back at his home in Kakamega county.
He left his profession back in 2015 for farming. He says what he is currently earning from farming is much better than what he got from employment.
"For sure, I regret why I failed to join farming earlier and considering employment instead," Odera said.
“I sell traditional vegetables directly from the farm, eggs from the house and milk as well, and all those tax-free.”
MIXED FARMING
After doing well in chicken farming, Odera decided to expand the variety of birds he keeps.
“I have various breeds of ducks, turkeys, guinea fowl and pigeons, and from that, I have added hybrid goats and pigs as well,” he said.
He said ducks have given him more profits than chickens due to their market price and guinea fowl’s eggs as well.
Odera has also planted traditional vegetables on his quarter-acre piece of land. “I have sukuma wiki, cowpeas, saga, managu and terere that I also sell to vegetable vendors,” he said.
On his vegetables, he is using organic manure as he intends to do away with manufactured fertilisers.
He says people claim manufactured fertilisers are the sources of chemicals in the body that lead to cancer complications.
“I can’t miss Sh10,000 on a daily basis from what I have within the compound,” Odera said.
Looking back, he feels like he wasted his time on a government job instead of investing in farming.
DEALING WITH THIEVES
Odera also keeps dairy goats that he is getting milk from for home use and sometimes for the market.
He says one litre from the dairy goat goes for Sh100, compared to dairy cow milk that goes for Sh60.
Odera says some people prefer buying goat milk as they say it’s of more value than that of the cow.
“I have cows, yes, but often, when I take that milk to the market, clients only walk in to buy traditional vegetables, eggs and birds,” he said.
He says most of his clients are from Vihiga county as he borders the county; only a few people from Kakamega come in to buy.
Odera says sometimes, he would find people had broken into his poultry farm and stolen everything without his knowledge.
Thieves would go to the extent of harvesting his traditional vegetables in the farm. Onions and bananas were not spared, either.
Odera invested in German shepherd dogs as a way of improving security at his home.
“There are those who just wait for you to sweat for them and then they come to harvest,” he said.
“After having tested that bad experience, I fenced the compound, then put dogs and security lights. At least with that, theft cases have gone down.”
“Ever since I kept the dogs within my compound, the incidents have gone down,” he said.
Most of the time, I considered farming a job for unschooled people. That was before I knew how lucrative it is
DROUGHT, COSTLY FEEDS
One of the biggest challenges Odera faces is drought. His farm relies on tap water, which is not constant, and when it is constant, the cost incurred is high.
“Though during the rainy seasons also, people tend to plant their own vegetables, so the market shrinks on my side,” he said.
Odera raised concern over dishonest clients in the market as well. Sometimes, they take goods on credit but paying becomes an issue.
He said high costs of production in terms of feeds for poultry is highly demanding.
“50kg of layers feed goes for Sh3,800. Transport per bag is Sh100, and sometimes we are forced to go all the way to Luanda,” he said.
“So when it comes to selling eggs or the bird itself, it becomes a challenge in recovering the costs.”
Odera decried the poor quality of fertilisers and chemicals that have further contributed to low productivity.
He said sometimes, doing all those jobs while alone, it becomes a challenge. He requires help, though most of the people he hires for help are unreliable.
Those troubles notwithstanding, farming has given Odera fulfilment in his later life. He is glad it keeps him busy during the day rather than wasting his time in alcohol dens.
“When you have nothing to do, you automatically drive yourself to the 'men's table', and that needs money,” he said.
Odera urged those able to invest in farming to do so rather than running up and down for shrinking white-collar jobs.
“Personally, I would urge youth to engage in agribusiness. It pays better than white-collar jobs,” Odera says.
He said youths should take advantage of the sector that is picking up and employ themselves.
He added that agribusiness is the only sector where people earn millions of shillings without depression.
“Though challenges are there, people should learn to control them so they can withstand the situation at hand,” he said.
