Successful Young Entrepreneurs Attracted to Farming by Social Media

Daniel Kimani did not think much about farming when he was growing up. But he has become a
national figure since he started fish farming. Mr. Kimani has been featured on Kenyan radio and television. The 29-year-old from Kenya’s Nyandurua County, about 150 kilometres northwest of
Nairobi, graduated from university with a diploma in engineering.

-Frustrated with the lack of available jobs, he started raising fish after hearing on the radio how agriculture could transform his life.

Mr.Kimani training farmers in his farm

Mr. Kimani says, “My dream is to become the best young farmer in Africa and be recognized
as such by the [United Nations] Food and Agriculture Organization.

Young graduate provides agricultural services

-The narrative of a young successful Kenyan is to go to school, get good grades and secure a nice job. Elijah Njoroge went to school, got good grades but never got a job. In fact, he has never applied for one. He defied the narrative. He knew that he would never be employed.
 

-So he went to school, got good grades and secured networks. He believes that networks are the lifeline of any successful business. Getting to interact with future architects, civil engineers and
horticulturalists at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) was the key to success for the Biotechnology and Microbiology graduate. Njoroge reaches out to the networks he formed in campus from time to time. 

-He engages architects to create designs for his greenhouses.

-Civil engineers come in handy when he has to install water pipes across a large piece of land. -Horticulturalists help in providing information to novice greenhouse farmers.