Keep the job, I am growing cucumbers

Larry Keya in one of his greenhouses on his farm in Eldoret. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA

What you need to know:

  • Larry went into farming after failing to graduate from Moi University, now he supplies hotels with groceries

After failing to graduate in 2010 at Moi University with his colleagues because he could not get internship on time, Larry Keya had to find something to do.

Keya, an agriculture economics student, says he had plenty of time that he could not waste by idling.

The youthful entrepreneur based in Langas, Eldoret, decided to grow tomatoes.

“I had drafted a business plan and used it to secure Sh350,000 Vijana Loan from Youth Development Enterprise Fund (YDEF). I invested the money in two greenhouses, where I began growing tomatoes,” says Keya, who enlisted a friend in the business. “I bought 200 tomato seedlings from my savings.”

His first season in farming was bad. “Every farmer who had a greenhouse was producing tomatoes. The best I ever made from one crate was Sh800.” After two seasons of dealing in tomatoes, Keya was at a crossroads and he even contemplated quitting.

His friend, however, encouraged him. Using money earned from the second harvest, he rented a greenhouse from a farmer for Sh10,000 a season and planted Kirby cucumbers. From 500 plants, he harvested 100kg for the first time, which he sold at Eldoret Municipal Market earning Sh8,000.

He kept on harvesting an average of 100kg a week for the next 16 weeks, getting Sh128,000 that season. That was his turning point. At the market, despite making a lot of money from Kirdy cucumbers, he noticed people were buying English cucumbers more.

English cucumbers have less seeds, which make other cucumbers bitter and are preferred by hotels because they are excellent for making salads. They can even be chewed raw. Having already made the Internet his friend, he equipped himself with more information on this variety of cucumbers and by the time the harvest period for his Kirdy cucumbers was over, he was ready with seeds for English cucumbers and he experimented once more.

From the previous 100kg he used to make from Kirdy, he got an extra 20kg each week per harvest. This success made him to buy his own two greenhouses in a year.

“The two greenhouses supplement each other. When plants in one are maturing, I am harvesting from the other. This way I am in the market throughout,” he says.

English cucumbers take only two months to mature and after that, the farmer can harvest each week for the next four months.

A 60 by 30 foot greenhouse assures a farmer of Sh9,600 weekly from 120kg of harvest for the 16 weeks. He makes a profit of about Sh150,000 a month.

“Lack of ready market and appropriate production technology remains a major challenge to most up-coming entrepreneurs,” says Keya, who will graduate from Moi University this year.

His success has elevated his greenhouse unit as a demonstration centre for entrepreneurs who have secured loan from YDEF and want to establish similar business.

According to Shubhra Krishan, a nutritionist in Nairobi, cucumbers have various health benefits.

“They are 96 per cent water, so if you are too busy to drink water, just chew a raw cucumber,” she says. She adds that they are also rich in vitamin A, B and C, which boost immunity and add radiance to the body.

Livingstone Ekisa, an agricultural extension officer with Ministry of Agriculture, says cucumbers perform exceptionally well in moist soils and warm weather.