In line with helping peasants cross the poverty line, I will keep sharing ideas that my enterprenuerial mind dreams about.
You probably didn’t know that all the spaghetti we eat in kenya is imported from outside the continent, mainly from Asian countries. This is because spaghetti doesn’t grow well in the equatorial climate. A US giant agricultural company, Monsanto, in conjuction with KARI, yesterday announced that they have developed a variety that will grow perfectly well in our country. The trials were done in farms in Embu, Kisumu, Taita Taveta, Nairobi, Nakuru and Kakamega with impressive results. During the function held at the KARI, Monsanto Country Boss Brett Begemann unveiled the seeds which he said will be available from authorized seed dealers starting 15-Apr. A 500gms packet (enough to cover half an acre) will retail at Shs. 1435. The plant takes 85 days from plant to harvest, and an acre can yield as much as 12 tonnes per harvest. The plant, once matured, is harvested every four weeks for a whole year.
Speaking during the function, the Deputy president, H.E. William Ruto, asked farmers to embrace this new development and use it as a means of diversifying from crops like sugarcane which have continued to give poor yields to farmers. He also called upon county governments to develop regulations to ensure the farmers are not exploited by middlemen. Specifically, he called upon enforcement of the ban of packaging food products in bags more than 50Kgs.
Now this is where the opportunity comes in.
Lease an acre of land at 15K per year.
Land preparation 30K
Farm inputs (seeds, fertilizer, persticides, herbicides) 50K
Labour for 1 year @15K monthly=180K
Total 275K.
Expected harvest (10 times per yer @10 tonnes)=100 tonnes per acre, or 100,000 kgs
Current market price is approx 200bob per kg. Let us assume that the middlemen will buy at 10% of this price so a kg will sell at 20 bob. So, in an year, you get 2 million after investing 275K, leaving a net profit of over 1.7m per year.
[ATTACH=full]35775[/ATTACH]