From the Newsroom to the Farm: How a Kenyan Journalist Turned Unemployment into Agribusiness Success

When most graduates dream of landing their first job in a big city, Martha Otieno was no different. A Bachelor of Journalism graduate from St. Augustine University of Dar es Salaam, she spent nearly a year searching for work in Kenya’s ever-competitive media industry—but the dream job never came.

“I was putting up with a friend in Nairobi while depending on my parents for upkeep, and you know how life in Nairobi can be expensive,” she recalls.

In 2011, tired and frustrated, Martha packed her bags and returned home to Homa Bay County. But instead of giving up, she decided to rewrite her own story—not with a pen, but with a hoe.

🌱 A New Beginning in the Soil

Back home, Martha joined a local women’s self-help group that engaged in small-scale income-generating activities. The group’s ventures revolved around merry-go-round savings and collective investments.

Her background in journalism and organization gave her an edge. She helped introduce structured farming activities like banana and mango cultivation, ensuring that the proceeds were fairly shared among members.

But after a few months, Martha realized she could take farming further—beyond the group’s small-scale projects. “I didn’t want to restructure the group with my personal plans, so I decided to chart my own path,” she says.

💪 Turning Setbacks into Comebacks

With only Sh40,000 in savings, Martha leased an acre of land and planted watermelons, expecting a return of Sh300,000 in just three months. But disaster struck.

Just three weeks before harvest, flash floods swept through her farm, destroying everything.

“We live in an area prone to flooding, but I didn’t expect to come face to face with its devastating effects that fast,” she says.

Still, she refused to give up. She sought advice from agronomists and learned how to manage risk by diversifying her farming locations and crop varieties.

🍅 Finding Her Rhythm in Agribusiness

Martha began leasing smaller plots of land in different parts of Homa Bay County to spread risks and ensure consistent income. She focused on fast-maturing crops—watermelons, tomatoes, capsicums, and butternuts—all ready for harvest in about three months.

Her persistence paid off. The second season broke even, and the next one yielded a profit. Within three years, Martha had expanded her operations and purchased four acres of land.

While she prefers to keep her income private, one acre of watermelons can fetch up to Sh300,000, and tomatoes or capsicums up to Sh250,000 every three months.

“I was not new to farming,” she adds. “I used to grow rice while studying in Tanzania to earn pocket money. I just never thought it would become my full-time job.”

👩🏽‍🌾 Empowering a Generation

As her farming business grew, Martha’s story began to inspire other young people in her community—many of whom were also struggling to find jobs.

To help them, she founded the St. Macharia Self-Help Group, a 20-member youth group made up of unemployed young Kenyans from Homa Bay, Nairobi, Kisumu, and Nakuru.

“We work as a team—those in towns monitor market prices, while I coordinate production and logistics from the rural side,” she explains.

The group’s structure allows collective investment and profit-sharing. Some members have since gone back to school using proceeds from their harvests.

One of them, Brenda Anyango, 25, shared:

“I joined the group 10 months ago and already enrolled for a degree after two successful farming seasons.”

Others have found employment but still farm as a side hustle through the group, proving that agribusiness can be both sustainable and profitable.

🧠 Lessons from Martha: Farming the Smart Way

Martha emphasizes that successful agribusiness starts not with seeds but with market research.

“Most farmers incur losses because they fail to study the market before planting,” she says. “You must know what crops are profitable and when, so that when harvest comes, the market is ready.”

Through her resilience, leadership, and innovation, Martha Otieno has transformed not just her own life but also the lives of many young people in her community.

🌾 Final Word

From chasing deadlines in a newsroom to meeting planting schedules in the fields, Martha’s story is one of reinvention, courage, and purpose.

She’s living proof that with passion, persistence, and a willingness to learn, the soil can yield more than crops—it can grow dreams.