Primary School Teacher Earning A Fortune Out of A Quarter-Acre Plot Of Land.

When you meet him at work, Salim Mwangi Ng’ang’a is just like any other teacher but the primary school teacher is totally different from his colleagues.

When he joined the teaching profession a few years ago, Salim had big dreams as any other young graduate. However, he was he met by a rough world, especially as he had to fend for his young family with the meagre salary of a primary school teacher. This forced him to think of something to complement what he was earning at school. He turned to small-scale farming to ensure his family had enough food to eat and earn a few coins for their upkeep.

Through his savings, Salim bought a quarter acre piece of land in Kanyoni village and considering its small size, not so many people could have thought of it as a venture for any viable mega business.

“When I bought this 100X100 plot of land, I took it as a starting point to reorganise my future and that of my young family to that ideal life I have always dreamt of. I sat down and thought of how best I would maximise its use and make the best out of it regardless the fact it was not as big as I would have wanted. I also had to figure out how to make best use of my free time considering the fact that I am in school for most of the day. I therefore had to pay exquisite attention to what worked for in such situation and what didn’t, said Salim.

He did a lot of research and read extensive, both on the internet and in books as well as visiting various agricultural shows and exhibitions to learn of the best practices that makes it possible to earn significant income from land bases under an acre in size. Having equipped himself with the right gear and a radically new understanding of what it means to be a farmer, Salim set off his journey into agri-preneurship by converting their 100-by-100-feet plot into a mixed farm which now earns them an income nearing a five-figured digit monthly.

“It took me some serious brainpower to come up with the best way to utilise this land and juggle with the little time at my disposal. While my colleagues spent their free time mainly on leisure, I burnt the midnight oil planning on my breakthrough,” he says.

This small strategy has now resulted into a huge farming enterprise today.

Salim now grows various types vegetables, fruits, bananas, arrowroots, coffee and miraa seedlings that earns him thousands weekly. He also rears chicken, goats and heifers for sale within the same area.

Ready Market

He says that the food crops, especially Sukumawiki and other vegetables have a very ready market locally where neighbours come on a daily basis thus earning them enough money for their day-to-day use with the surplus saved for other projects and investments.

He sells his tree plants and coffee as seedlings to farmers as he has no space to grow them into maturity. He admits that this gives him a better deal as it saves him more time and labour and the clientele are readily available.

“For instant, when these ribena fruits were in their peak demand, we were earning an average of sh. 8,000 weekly. During the rainy season, coffee seedlings are hotcake, selling at sh. 50 each. Sukumawiki are my favourite because they guarantee daily income.

  

Asked why he thought of growing miraa, Salim explains that he realised that majority of the youth in the area were into miraa chewing and thus guaranteed ready market at any given time.

In his poultry house, Salim rears the Kroiler breed of chicken which he says earns good money and does not demand too much labour. He has an incubator which he hatches chicks for sale to the local market and elsewhere after every 21 days which means that he is guaranteed of new chicks in about ten months annually. He also sells fertilised eggs at sh. 20.

“We sell mature birds as well as the chicks depending on the preferences of our clients. A one day old chick goes for sh. 100 as a mature hen is sold at sh. 800. We also buy new-born Holstein Friesians calves which we rear and sell them after about six months as pregnant heifers for an average of sh. 150,000. We too rear goats that we sell to people especially those going for dowries and other fetes.”

He admits that there is good market in the neighbourhood but he has been taking advantage of technology and online platforms like the OLX to sell the surplus livestock and birds.

Salim reckons that he never worries about his salary anymore as he earns enough to keep going and invest without necessarily borrowing loans as is the norm with majority of his colleagues. He says that farming earns him far much more money that what he gets as salary for being a teacher. In fact, he has managed to build himself a home and buy a car without necessarily having to go into his salary or obtaining a loan.

“If I am to compare the two, farming earns me greater than what I earn as a teacher even though I spend only about 4 hours daily to run the farm. I no longer worry about loans anymore,” he says.

His advice to those in formal employment and the unemployed youth that farming pays. He says that the size of the land in question is not what matters but how well you plan for it and maximise its productivity. He adds that the ability to manage the small entity that is at their disposal will eventually enable them to run bigger ventures in future. It also calls for great sacrifice especially in time management, he says.

How do you see yourself in the next 5-10 years?

In very near future, Salim plans to invest in a larger farm, say of about 3-5 acres where he will now run at a bigger scale. He sees himself quitting his teaching profession and venturing into agri-business on a full-scale. He plans to use the proceeds to invest in real estate which will earn him good money at his heydays.

To get in touch with Salim you can email him at patricknganga74@gmail.com or call him via 0727254527.