-Pauline Mwangi grows tomatoes, strawberries, cabbages, kales, pepper,
capsicum, spinach, cucumbers, bananas and some maize for sale to her
neighbours, other customers as well as the nearby hotels.
capsicum, spinach, cucumbers, bananas and some maize for sale to her
neighbours, other customers as well as the nearby hotels.
-She also keep quails and kienyeji (indigenous) chicken.
-Her advice to working women who want to try their hand in urban
farming is to look for more than one alternative, especially in buying
greenhouses in order to get a more genuine company.
farming is to look for more than one alternative, especially in buying
greenhouses in order to get a more genuine company.
 |
| Pauline's farm |
It is Saturday morning and Pauline Mwangi is completely dressed down
from her usual formal attire during the week and ready to work on
her half-acre farm located at Kasarani in Nairobi.
from her usual formal attire during the week and ready to work on
her half-acre farm located at Kasarani in Nairobi.
First she checks on the quails, her most recent venture on the farm,
to see if they have enough food and changes their drinking water.
to see if they have enough food and changes their drinking water.
Her next stop is the kienyeji (indigenous) chicken, which she rears in
a nearby poultry house after ensuring that they are in perfect
health, she goes on to walk around the rest of her farm.
a nearby poultry house after ensuring that they are in perfect
health, she goes on to walk around the rest of her farm.
She has 100
chicken at the moment.
One can be excused to assume that she is in her rural county and not
her home in Nairobi.
chicken at the moment.
One can be excused to assume that she is in her rural county and not
her home in Nairobi.
Ms Mwangi represents a new breed of city women, those who can
have an eight-to-five job and still manage to indulge in their farming
passion.
have an eight-to-five job and still manage to indulge in their farming
passion.
“When my children were born, I wanted them to have a healthy
lifestyle. At that time there were all these fears about the origin of
most of the food that it was being grown around sewers in Nairobi so I
planted some bananas outside my house,” she said.
lifestyle. At that time there were all these fears about the origin of
most of the food that it was being grown around sewers in Nairobi so I
planted some bananas outside my house,” she said.
Growing interest
Before long she began planting just enough kales, coriander and
parsley for her family to consume in a bid to reduce the trips she
would make to the market in Githurai and some tokens for those who
called at her home.
Before long she began planting just enough kales, coriander and
parsley for her family to consume in a bid to reduce the trips she
would make to the market in Githurai and some tokens for those who
called at her home.
“Whenever my friends and family would come visit they would always
want to buy some fresh vegetables for their homes and that was when
I decided to scale up my farming into agribusiness,” she said.
want to buy some fresh vegetables for their homes and that was when
I decided to scale up my farming into agribusiness,” she said.
Today, she grows tomatoes, strawberries, cabbages, kales, pepper,
capsicum, spinach, cucumbers, bananas and some maize for sale to her
neighbours, other customers as well as the nearby hotels.
capsicum, spinach, cucumbers, bananas and some maize for sale to her
neighbours, other customers as well as the nearby hotels.
Up scaling her passion was not an easy affair, her husband had to
finance part of the capital intensive investments which she
supplemented with her savings.
finance part of the capital intensive investments which she
supplemented with her savings.
She would deliver three crates of tomatoes to the hotels thrice a
week at between Sh1,000 and Sh1,500 per crate while she sold a kilo
of capsicum for between Sh120 and Sh150 depending on the market
price.
week at between Sh1,000 and Sh1,500 per crate while she sold a kilo
of capsicum for between Sh120 and Sh150 depending on the market
price.
The urban farmer has 600 quails which she purchased mid last year
because of the growing interest many people expressed in the bird’s
meat.
because of the growing interest many people expressed in the bird’s
meat.
She has even bought an incubator so that she can hatch the
quail eggs and continue with a fresh lot even as she sold the older
ones.
quail eggs and continue with a fresh lot even as she sold the older
ones.
“Right now my farm is all inclusive,” she said. “Previously I would have
to hire a lorry and go all the way to Maasailand to look for manure
but now I just use the droppings from the poultry houses.”
to hire a lorry and go all the way to Maasailand to look for manure
but now I just use the droppings from the poultry houses.”
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