• You cannot control the price at the market but you can control farm expenses
Many Kenyans with full-time jobs still pursue agriculture as an economic activity. Farming is part of our social fabric but, as many are finding out, co-ordinating farm activities from afar can be a financial sinkhole.
Farming has been popularised as a side hustle anyone can do regardless of location. There are many examples of people who are making money from agriculture, but not many would risk leaving their jobs to get into full-time farming. The biggest disadvantage faced by those described as "telephone farmers" is not being around to supervise the workers.
As the term suggests, telephone farmers run their farms through phone calls. Most telephone farmers visit their farms on weekends, once a month or whenever they get time off from work. Disappointment ensues when the farmer realises critical activities such as weeding, fertiliser application, watering and pest control were not done despite having sent the necessary materials and money. For those raising livestock, it is not surprising to find the animals starving or worse, to find some livestock missing.
Marenge Ngali, a taxi driver in Taita Taveta county, got into telephone farming at the start of the year. Nine months down the line, he realises farming requires much more hands-on supervision. His farm is located two hours' drive from where he lives. He goes there at least twice a month.
"There are farm workers who run things for me, but I believe they use some of my inputs in their farms," Ngali says. "They keep calling, asking for money for this or that activity, but the quality of work does not measure up with the money sent."
"There's one season I made a profit but the next season did not go well. I stayed away from the farm for almost a month. When I returned, I found the crops choking with weeds. That season, I did not harvest much," Ngali recounts. He wants to visit the farm more often but the rising cost of fuel is making the trips more expensive.
Agricultural economists say telephone farmers have two advantages over full-time small-scale farmers: an additional income from employment and willingness to try new ideas. Technology, such as CCTV cameras and various sensors, will eventually be cheap enough for telephone farmers to monitor ongoings in their farms.
What lessons have telephone farmers such as Ngali learnt?
1. Watch your expenses: If you spend money redoing work that was poorly done the first time, your costs go up. You will make a loss when you finally sell your produce. You cannot control the price at the market but you can control farm expenses.
2. Don't farm too far away: Ideally, you should visit your farm as often as possible. If your farm is so far away that you cannot visit several times a month, your farming venture will be disappointing.
3. Be a hands-on farmer: Show up for all the important milestones on your farm, such as land preparation, planting, weeding, spraying and harvesting. At any given time, know what's happening on the ground.
4. Get a professional manager: If you can afford it, employ a professional to manage your farm. Too often, we turn farm labourers into managers and then get disappointed.