Alice Nyambura, a mother of 2 has no regrets with regards to quitting her banking job to engage in farming as an alternative source of income.
Nyambura who is now flourishing as a farmer in Njoro worked with the Bank of Baroda for 5 years and resigned in 2010 to engage in farming.
"When you want to buy essential commodities in most markets like tomatoes, vegetables and onions, you are always told that they are expensive because they are scarce. This is what made me realise that i can try to feed people," Nyambura narrated.
Nyambura who practices mixed farming has also heavily invested in tomatoes greenhouse farming. Nyambura said that she harvests 4 crates of tomatoes in a day and sells them at Kshs. 5, 000 per crate; sometimes a crate goes for Kshs. 7, 000 depending on the market demand.
She added that in a good season, she earn Kshs. 200, 000 per month from the sale of tomatoes. She also cultivates over 20 varieties of seasoned horticultural crops like broccoli, onions, capsicum, carrots and a variety of traditional vegetables which she sells in supermarkets like Ukwala, Nakumatt, Naivas and Tuskys in Nakuru town.
"Farming has greatly improved my life so much so that if am told to go back to work in a bank, i would not simply because i can't compare what i'm earning now with what i used to earn there," said Nyambura.
She disclosed that she earns more than Kshs. 5, 000 per day from kales and cabbages besides the amount accruing from the sale of milk from her 20 dairy cattle.
Nyambura has advised the young generation to consider venturing into farming in order to improve their livelihoods instead of yearning for white collar jobs that may not be very fulfilling in the end.