Farming, specifically agribusiness, has already started generating the next wave of millionaires in Kenya.
Key Takeaways
- Agribusiness is predicted to be a high-income venture in Kenya
- There are niche areas that are “undiscovered” and can generate a lot of money
- Area-specific farming creates a competitive advantage for you
- New types of farming are progressively being supported by local and international markets
More people are getting into different niches of farming and the market seems insatiable.
With a prediction that agribusiness will power the next financial revolution in Africa, it only makes sense to invest early.
Here is a list of the best rewarding niches in agribusiness.
Beekeeping
Honey is always in demand and the market keeps growing.
However, a bigger incentive for beekeeping is that it is not as capital intensive if you are in the right area like the Eastern Kenyan regions where the climate suits bees.
The setup costs are majorly building Langstroth where the bees stay and hanging them strategically throughout the farm.
Bees also require little attention and therefore maintenance costs are relatively low compared to other forms of farming.
The cost-benefit analysis also shows that bees earn way more money than is needed to keep them as a capital of Kshs. 3,000 can triple itself in a short while.
If you happen to scale up to hundreds of Langstroth then it will be a matter of time before your income gets to a million and more.
Pig farming
Pigs are a bit more work than bees but they have a consistent market locally.
Unlike in the past when pork was not widely available as a meat option, the current market is large with a pork butchery in almost every neighborhood.
The demand will therefore keep rising over time.
The only trick is to select the right breed of pigs and dedicate your time to creating a good system of feeding them and monitoring their health.
It will take some time to get an idea of how pigs eat and grow but once you are an expert, nothing will stop you from making tens of thousands each month.
Specific types of vegetables
Vegetables in this context include capsicum, tomatoes, onions, spinach, manage, terere, etc. These are among the most demanded vegetables in Kenya and they generate the quickest money.
Most of them will take a maximum of 4 months from planting to maturity and can quadruple the investment you made as long as the harvest is good.
The same happens with cabbages and Sukuma wiki but the profits for these two are usually lower and everyone is planting them.
A good tip with vegetables is to find a reliable source of water and plant against the traditional seasons.
If you can get your product to the market before everyone else then you will earn the highest.
A few acres of land can generate tens of thousands in a year.
Dairy farming
While dairy farming is very common, it is still profitable because the demand for milk never goes down.
The Kenyan market for milk can be sold directly to the consumer or sold to milk processing plants.
A good illustration of how much money is in milk is Githunguri Dairy, a company that started from a union of farmers and had grown to be worth over Kshs. 6 billion.
Obviously, as an individual farmer, you may not make a billion but you will definitely generate a million from the trade.
In order to be successful, you may need to incur a bit of expense but these are often offset once the cows start generating enough milk.
Fish farming
Keeping fish is probably one of the most complicated farming options for an average person but also one of the most profitable.
The learning process of how to keep fish is very hard and there is little government support for fish farmers.
However, people who have figured out how to keep fish ponds sustainably are among the most-paid farmers.
As such, when keeping fish, expect to invest a lot of money in researching the specific needs for fish to breed and survive in your area.
You may need survives of an agriculture officer very often even as you benchmark with other fish farmers.
The market for fish is underexplored, particularly for rare breeds and therefore if you manage to produce consistent numbers of fish every month there will be nothing to stop you from becoming a millionaire.
It is important to note that all these alternative needs consistent effort from them to scale up enough to enrich you but they remain the best alternatives in Kenya.
