Side hustle germinates into thriving business for young duo

Taita Ngetich, 22, and Brian Bett, 23 are the proprietors of Illuminum Greenhouses. PHOTO| COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • What began as a joint venture to raise pocket money to take them through college has blossomed into a fully-fledged business that has seen the two young men soar above their peers.

  • “We started by growing tomatoes on a leased farm in Oloitoktok - the second harvest was disastrous. It rained one night and all our tomatoes were destroyed,” says Brian, who graduated last year from the University of Nairobi with a degree in Economics and Statistics.

Two years ago, Taita Ngetich, 22, and Brian Bett, 23, were broke university students looking for a side hustle that could boost their pocket money.

Today, the two young men are successful entrepreneurs who are gradually changing the lives of small scale farmers, one green house at a time.

What began as a joint venture to raise pocket money to take them through college has blossomed into a fully-fledged business that has seen the two young men soar above their peers.

“We started by growing tomatoes on a leased farm in Oloitoktok - the second harvest was disastrous. It rained one night and all our tomatoes were destroyed,” says Brian, who graduated last year from the University of Nairobi with a degree in Economics and Statistics.

That is how the two discovered that open-field farming of tomatoes is not exactly a viable idea, because their plants were not only at the mercy of unpredictable rain patterns, but also a host of other enemies, such as the scorching sun and pests.

Wiser, they decided to try out greenhouse farming.

“The cheapest greenhouse we could find in the market cost Sh360,000. That was too expensive,” says Taita, a fifth year mechanical engineering student at the University of Nairobi.

Undeterred, the two decided to research on cheaper, more effective greenhouses, and consulted with local fundis. With the little money they had saved and a boost from their parents, the duo used the seed

money to construct their first greenhouse, using timber frames.

Once complete, they planted tomatoes. Their greenhouse was such a success, that farmers in the area took an interest in their method of farming. That is how Illuminum Greenhouses began.

From August 2013, the two friends have been constructing greenhouses for sale to farmers throughout the country at almost half the price of most greenhouses in the market.

In 2014, they registered their company, Syneffa Green Limited and branded their greenhouses ‘”.

They come in different sizes. The smallest, christened Kadogo, is a 6M by 20M, and costs Sh120,000. This includes polythene, a timber structure with plant support system, a drip irrigation system with fittings, water filter and installation labour.

Their greenhouse was such a success, that farmers in the area took an interest in their method of farming. That is how Illuminum Greenhouses began. PHOTO| COURTERSY

The best seller, however, is the Mwanzishi greenhouse, a 6M by 30M greenhouse that can host about 1,000 plants. It costs Sh180,000 and is very popular with farmers who are just starting out.

So far, the pair has sold more than 140 units throughout the country. Their target market is not just small scale farmers with a little money, but also large scale farmers who want to save money.

“Greenhouses with wooden structures are cheaper, and the ventilation is better because you can adjust the height, which is good for twining plants. It is also flexible because it is possible to have double

polythene, especially in cold areas,” says Bett.

NECESSARY INNOVATION

Months into their business, the feedback from farmers was that greenhouses are generally labour intensive, as they required weekly agronomic visits and frequent checking to ensure the plants are watered.

Farmers complained of losing thousands of litres of water after they forgot to turn off the drip irrigation system. Other farmers were at a loss on how they could monitor the soil moisture, temperature and

humidity in their greenhouses.

“We could have ignored the complaints, but instead, we decided to try and come up with a solution to this problems,” says Taita.

It took a while, but with Taita’s background in mechanical engineering and Bett’s economics background, they created the Smart Mobile Farmer; a sensor system that monitors a greenhouse’s temperature, soil moisture and humidity via text message.

Through this system, farmers can monitor and regulate their farms remotely using their mobile phones anytime of the day, from anywhere in the country. The system is solar-powered and can therefore work in rural areas where electricity is a challenge.

“Farmers can open and close their drip irrigation systems from their phones wherever they are. They can also monitor the status of their farm (temperature, humidity and soil moisture) via SMS,” explains Taita.

The smart mobile system costs Sh15,000 plus an additional Sh2,300 for installation.

“Since our systems are accurate and efficient, urban farmers have saved water by up to 60 per cent, have reduced their workload, and now have more time on their hands to attend to other responsibilities,” says Taita.

It is this innovation that brought the duo into the limelight during the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. The pair emerged the second best innovation in the Global Innovation through Science and Technology-

GIST Tech-I competition, and walked away with Sh1.5Million.

There were 792 applications from 74 countries after which the list was narrowed to 76 semi-finalists. Afterwards, there was a global voting that narrowed the competition to 30 finalists, who gave their final pitches to determine the winner.

Mexico’s Carlos Fransisco took the first place and Illuminum Greenhouses came second.

“What impressed the judges was that this is a scalable innovation that can be deployed all over Africa and Latin America. We are addressing the basic need of humanity, which is food,” says Taita.

Brain is not ‘tarmacking’ for a job like many of his peers who graduated last year, and neither will Taita when he completes his studies this year, because their careers are already in motion. 

They say they have no regrets about investing their time and money in farming, if anything, they are quite at home in farms with gumboots and overalls, having grown up in tea farms in Kericho.

They have also learnt to use their different skills to complement each other and find balance in their different interests and skills.

“While I focus on the technical bit, Brian figures out the business angle – it works for us” says Taita.

 

FACT BOX:

Name: Taita Ngetich, 22, and Brian Bett, 23

Achievement: Second best innovation in the Global Innovation through Science and Technology, GIST Tech-I competition

Institution: University of Nairobi. Brian graduated last year with a degree in Economics and Statistics, while Taita is a fifth year Mechanical Engineering student.

 

COMPANY BIO:

Name: Illuminum Greenhouses

Age: Founded and incorporated in 2014.

 

Workforce: 13 full-time employees, four in management, five technicians and four agronomists

Turnover for 2015: Sh35,300,000

Location: Bishop Magua Centre, Ngong road, and a branch in Kitengela, Kitwoods Building, along Nairobi Namanga road.

Website: www.illuminumgreenhouses.com