Peter Kimani, a 25-year-old from Kiambu County, was selected to participate in an 11-month practical training programme at the Arava International Centre for Agriculture Training (AICAT) in Israel in 2016.
The programme, signed by former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, involved recent graduates from Kenyan universities participating in an 11-month practical training course in the foreign country.
Kimani, a Bachelor of Science degree holder in Land Resources Planning and Management from Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT), and his partner were given loan-based air tickets to participate in farm production activities.
After returning to Kenya, Kimani invested Sh500,000 in his new venture, setting up two 8×30-metre greenhouses and a net house to cultivate tomatoes and cucumbers.
They chose to plant the high-yielding Tylka F1 tomato variety and the super marketer cucumber variety, earning approximately Sh1500 per plant.
During his first season, he earned approximately Sh1.7 million from tomatoes and Sh750,000 from cucumbers, both of which took three months to reach maturity.
Kimani and his partner have since expanded their production and have ventured into vegetable farming, cultivating kale, broccoli, capsicum, and carrots.
They also serve as horticulture consultants, offering tours and classes on their Thika farm.
Kimani’s future aspiration is to delve into the value addition of tomatoes to address wastage during times of crop surplus in the market.
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