Kithekani Farm, a resilience zeal and quest for successful fruit and vegetable farming

In Machakos County, Misuuni village, a farming revolution has taken shape being spearheaded by Kavita Ndolo a graduate civil engineer, who has transformed over 10 acres of family land into an agricultural haven. His journey to farming dates back to 5 years ago while working in Nairobi and cultivating crops as a side hustle to supplement his income before relocating back home to be a full time farmer.

Although the idea of relocating to their rural home at the beginning didn’t dwell well with his parents due him lacking of agricultural training, his resilience, zeal and urge convinced them that it was the best way for him to go. Moreover, he had grown in a farming background; seeing his parents grow crops as a source of livelihood. He has named the farm ‘Kithekani’ a direct translation of swahili kichakani (forest). He has transformed the bushland into a profitable and sustainable farmland while welcoming all not only for farming but also for a perfect farm tour; place to rest and enjoy the peaceful rural ambiance.

“When I relocated, I asked myself which crop should I begin with which will be giving me returns all year long. I cleared bushes and planted pawpaws in 2 acres as I monitored the market. With pawpaw farming picking up well as we sold our produce to Nairobi, 300-400 pawpaw fruits per week, selling at KES 50 each. Later, we began growing French beans on contract basis in small portions and we have been able to expand to 8 acres solely on French beans,” Ndolo states. With this not being enough, he has also diversified to crops like mangoes, oranges, bananas, watermelons, vegetables (sukuma wiki, spinach, managu, terere), and pigs farming to supplement him with manure for his crops.

With farming of this high value crops requiring specialized training, the farm has tapped into the services of local workforce whom they have been able to train on agricultural management. They have been pivotal in transferring the knowledge to local workforce, majority of them being women. The workforce has undergone theoretical and practical training on farming of array of fruits and vegetables including planting, bed maintenance, weeding, irrigation, harvesting and packaging.

Kithekani Farm has worked on maintaining the highest levels of good agricultural practices, environmental sustainability by judicious use of water through drip irrigation, cutting of gallows to mitigate against soil erosion and in social economic development through training its 25 laborers on sustainable farming practices. As a result, the company has attained Global GAP certification for taking care of environment and good agricultural practices

“We have installed solar panels to enable us pump water from river kithaani water reservoir to our constructed dams which later we irrigate our crops, this has gone along away in cutting the cost of gasoline,” he said.

“After 3 years of establishing the farm, something interesting came out. Most of our clients began asking if they could bring their families for a day out in the farm. We welcomed the idea and saw it as a business opportunity. We have partnered with Jilishe Africa, an organization that is championing urban farming for households to feed themselves for a farm tour experience. Farm visits are every month. Charges are Ksh 5,000 inclusive of return transport, photography, and lunch. At the moment we have lots of schools visiting the farm every month,” he states.
At Kithekani Farm they aim at a sustainable way of farming, without using chemicals and pesticides or synthetic fertilizers; strictly being organic. With increase in lifestyle diseases, most people are concerned on what types of food they eat, thanks to the media and internet where many reports highlights to the masses, where the food is grown and how its grown and how safe it is. People have also embraced nutritionists advises on food consumption

For the last fifteen years since he engaged himself with growing vegetables he states to have learned a lot, including many facts about bad impacts of chemicals and pesticides on food. This has strongly convinced him of the benefits of organic farming and it has made him believe that this is the best and only way to nourish families.

The philosophy that drives Kithekani Farm is to be self-sustainable in future, free from bills, free from chemicals and pesticides and by use of renewable energy for all of their needs for electricity, gas, transport and water. “The vegetable farming revolution that we have initiated in this area traditionally been regarded as unproductive is meant to motivate more people to join farming. We have a base core of 50 staff depending on this farm for their daily livelihood, it motivates us a lot and we are calling on them also to engage in farming activities on their pieces of land back home,” he said.

For those people who envision themselves being farmers one day, Kavita has an advice. “Farming is interesting though it needs a lot of hard work and being persistent. For those who are employed, keep your job for security of money and start farming slowly. Learn from the mistakes you make while farming and little by little you will perfect your craft. It’s not about money; I get people here who tell me they need a big capital to start. Just start with what you have and continue, don’t give up you definitely will build up something,” he opined.