Farming has proven to be a lucrative venture for many people in Kenya today, and with the current unemployment crisis with more graduands hitting the job market, many more people will be joining in the future. And as a young farmer already in this fast growing industry of agribusiness, I welcome them with open arms. If we do it right, we will be alright.
But as I welcome you I will also warn you. Farming has myriad of problems, I like referring to them as setbacks, some of which I have addressed in my previous posts. These setbacks if not handled or maneuvered careful they can lead to devastating losses that can make one give up on this noble and fulfilling venture. I know of people who have sworn never to go back to farming ever again after losing all their savings and still left in debt. Some of these people’s misfortune can be blamed on poor planning, lack of doing research, and some doing it for the wrong reasons.
But for some of these farmers it’s merely for not asking for advice from agronomists and farm experts. Information is crucial in this field, especially now with the climate change problem.
Most people today are entering into farming because they saw someone they know doing it and earning big, or because they watched a YouTube video of someone doing it and thought they could do it as well. So they rush into securing a field somewhere, rush into an agrovet get seeds and put them in the soil and when they end up with poor or no yields at all, they complain.
Seek advice. That is my advice.
By seeking advice and researching you won’t end up being a guinea pig for wolves in agrovets and seed and agrochemical companies. These companies are daily pumping into the market new products, some untested and which they intend to test on unsuspecting farmers. Some of these products are given to agrovets and shops for free to be given to willing farmers for trials but the unscrupulous salespeople end up selling to unsuspecting victims.
Agrovets are no different from pharmacies which are filled with quacks posing as doctors and end up prescribing to desperate patients drugs they have no idea on how they work, or their side effects. Pharmacists will tell you what you want to hear and end up selling you a new drug trafficked into the country through the black market and is untested, or one that is about to expire and you will never question them because we are ignorant on the medicine field. And that’s the same thing with agrovets.
Next time you visit these shops for your farm inputs, please go for the tested and verified. Don’t let that smooth sweet talking salesperson looking for gullible farmers dupe you. If you are not careful you will end up with very poor seeds that are costly to manage and which will eventually end up in losses. If you purchase a pesticide you are not sure about you risk your own life, that of your farm help, those of your customers and the environment. Don’t make unscrupulous salespeople and unethical companies rich at your expense. And seek advice for crying out loud!