By Francis Ndungu In the arid expanse of Laikipia North Subcounty, where erratic rainfall and parched soils often deter farmers, one man’s retirement has bloomed on his decision to invest in a borehole that paid for itself within a year and doubled his previous income as a bank manager.
“The borehole changed my financial status in the first two years,” said Daniel Muchiri.
As a former Cooperative Bank branch manager, Daniel concluded a 26-year career in 2019. Like many Kenyan retirees, he faced the challenge of subsisting on limited pension funds. A recent survey by the Retirement Benefits Authority revealed that over half of Kenyan pensioners live on less than KSh20,000 monthly, with 31.3% receiving below KSh10,000.
Determined to redefine his golden years, Daniel turned to farming on his five-acre plot. Initially, he relied on a small, seasonal dam to irrigate crops that included cabbages, garlic, and capsicums. Buthis plan hit constant challenges.
“I used a generator to pump water from the dam to my crops. The activity was so tiresome,and labour intensive . Sometimes, I incurred a lot of losses when my dam dried up when my crops were still in a premature stage due to the high evaporation rate caused by the high temperatures experienced in the area.”
“In 2020, one of my labourers was admitted to hospital due to pneumonia, which was as a result of consistent water contact during irrigation.”
“I spent a lot of money on fuel and maintenance for the generator. In addition, there was no regularity in the amount of water on each crop, because I was irrigating manually and some crops would get excess water while others didn’t get enough.”
“I only harvested one season in a year due to the inadequate water from rain and from my dam . and while I used my dam as a backup when the rain fluctuated, it would also sometimes dry up exposing me to losses. When it didn’t, the dam water could only sustain one acre of my crops with the help of short rains, giving me only Sh200,000 of profits in a year, with capsicums and cabbages yielding the most. I couldn’t grow perennial or high water consuming crops, because the rain was so unpredictable.”
But, in 2021, Daniel attended an agricultural show at Wambugu Farm in Nyeri County, where he discovered the potential of drip irrigation and borehole drilling. He decided to invest Sh3 million from his retirement benefits to drill a borehole and install a drip irrigation system across three acres.
I got the help of an agronomist, who said I needed more experience in farming so that I could improve my skills. I learned a lot about smart agriculture, rotating crops and crop diversity and how to get the most from these with drip irrigation.
“With the drip irrigation, you feed plants with soluble nutrients, minerals and water through small holes on drips called drippers.”
“I got the requirements for borehole drilling from articles on FarmBizAfrica, which helped me judge the cost and prices, and I decided to take the risk,” he said.
“In two months, my borehole was dug by Simba drilling company. The cost of drilling the borehole was determined by the soil type, where loose soils were charged higher. In Laikipia North, I was charged Sh1.4 million for each 7000 metres. The approvals by the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) cost Sh45,000, while the installation of pumps, water pipes, meters and other equipment cost Sh690,000. ”
Daniel later purchased drips lines for Sh350,000 for three acres of production, spending a total of around Sh2,485,000 in the whole project. But the transformation was incredible, said Daniel.
“In 2022, after drilling my borehole, I managed three consecutive seasons in one year to get enough money to enable me to venture into other crops, like asparagus, which required more capital but did quite well in export markets.”
He began with all-year round cabbages and tomatoes. Each acre of cabbages yielded 13,500 heads, generating a profit of Sh410,000 per season. Tomatoes proved even more lucrative, with profits exceeding Sh2 million per acre per season.
“The profit increased every day. I got used to it and made long term investments since water for irrigation was no longer a challenge. Additionally, I got some financial boost from water sold to people for construction and domestic use, selling 100 gallons per day at sh10 per gallon and there have been so many channels of getting more money as a result of the borehole,” he said
“The year after borehole drilling I was able to make a profit of Sh5m from only cabbages and tomatoes, which is more than the Sh2.5m expenses used in the whole borehole project.
“Farming as self employment was my target after retirement, but with the borehole, I am now earning double the salary I used to be paid by Cooperative Bank. The costs of my produce rarely fluctuate, and I have been able to move into perennial crops, such as asparagus, tree tomatoes, jack fruits and dragon fruits, which have been fetching good prices.”
“As a result of all this, traders now flood into my farm to buy my produce and farmers come for benchmarking and for farm training,” said Daniel.
