Mkulima Mdogo, Recognition by the President for Trailblazing in Agriculture

Beginning small in agri-business with a bigger vision for excellence can be a key to success. This is true for Lamech Kabuti popularly referred to as Mkulima Mdogo, who has grown big to a point of rubbing shoulders with Kenya’s President William Samoei Ruto. Recently, in the month of September the president conferred to him an award of the best youth in agriculture during the Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) Show held at Jamhuri rounds in Nairobi.

Hortfresh Journal in highlighting excellence in horticultural industry paid Mkulima Mdogo a visit at his farm in Murang’a County to get more insights on how young people can turn around their lives and become business leaders while creating employment opportunities. Currently, Kenya has a significant number of young people who are accounting to more than 60 percent of the population according to the state of Kenya Population 2020 report. This demographics about the youth are vulnerable to bleak opportunities of employment.

Congratulations for being recognized by the President for being one of the youths who is trailblazing in agriculture, highlight to us more about the award?
The award is called National Farmers Award, which is being chaperoned by the Ministry of Agriculture in partnership with Elgon Kenya Ltd. We were informed that we had been nominated by the players in the industry who had noticed the good work we are doing on the ground. It is a tough one because many people are nominated in the entire country. Many the youths who are engaged in a noticeable agricultural ventures are nominated, interviewed and also there is a group of people from the Ministry who pays a visit to confirm what you had said while being interviewed is true.

Mkulima Mdogo emerged the winner because it had more weight than other nominees in the category. One of the reasons for us emerging winners is that we offer employment opportunities to many people. Currently, we have a staff of over 60 people. The company also has been able to expand more here at Kenol, Muranga and also opened many other branches in Kwale, Eldoret, Nakuru, Msambweni among other places.

Apart from the seedlings, in our Msambweni branch, we have been able to introduce other products. We are manufacturing organic fertilizers, soil media that is cocopeat and also we are in producing synthetic foliar fertilizers which are doing very well in the market. This has enabled us to be a one stop shop not only for seedlings but other products.

All this entities gave us a competitive edge compared to our competitors thus becoming winners. Moreover, we are doing the normal farming thus when a farmer visits us he is able to see for themselves how the seedlings are performing in the field.

What informed the decision to diversify into organic fertilizers, cocopeat production and foliar fertilizers as well?
I have a great passion in farmers doing the right thing. As a company we found out that most farmers have a lot of misinformation about farming. A farmer pays us a visit, buys the seedlings but does not take care of them well in regards to chemical and fertilizer applications and expects optimal results. We are here to correct that error.

We decided to advice the farmers on which fertilizers and chemicals to apply at which stage, the dosage and how to control pests’ occurrence. It’s good to give farmers a very comprehensive way of farming.

How has been the journey since you began Mkulima Mdogo, to date?
Mkulima Mdogo was born 7 years ago, it has been a good journey with the normal ups and downs of running a business. There has been a lot of learning because many things are evolving very fast. For instance, when we began the pests that used to create havoc are no longer a threat or they have developed a lot of resistance, now we have new pests draining our pockets and brains on how to control them. For example, when we began tuta absoluta was a major threat in tomato farming. At the moment farming has become very dynamic and you have to keep doing a lot of research to succeed.

What philosophy drives Mkulima Mdogo?
Consistency, and being determined to see more and more farmers’ succeed. Consistency in business is very key, for instance, if a farmer pays you a visit today and the second visit finds you having the products; they refer other clients to your business. Secondly, having good quality products at all times.

What next for Mkulima mdogo; your immediate and future plans?
We are looking at expanding to other territories, we have plans to venture into the neighboring countries, we have even started experiencing their tastes, we have exported our products to Zambia, Sudan, Uganda and we are looking at having something that can be a solution not only to Kenyan farmers but to the East Africa region.