Diamond Properties Marketing Director Edwin Khiranga presents a cheque to one of the greenhouses investors during an investor briefing held at a Nairobi hotel. [Photo: LMulunda]
Land management company Diamond Properties Merchants has paid Sh42 million to agribusiness investors who own managed greenhouses at its farm in Kajiado County.
The money, earned from the greenhouses’ produce in the last six months, was distributed among 168 investors.Diamond Properties Marketing Director Edwin Khiranga said the earnings are for one season, with an eighth-acre plot raking in Sh250,000 per crop season. With two planting seasons in a year, a single plot earns Sh500,000.Khiranga said produce from the greenhouses - mainly cucumber, capsicum and tomatoes - is exported to Juba, Khartoum, South Africa and Botswana.He said agribusiness is a viable business that could accelerate economic growth and counter food shortage in Kenya.“Greenhouses are on throughout the year and therefore they are not affected by weather patterns,” he said. “For stable food supply and food prices we need to invest more in agribusiness.”He said Diamond Properties had launched the Faidika Premium Sacco, which will help in financing members to acquire plots, in partnership with Magnum Credit.
The land management firm sells an eighth-acre plot for Sh500,000 and charges Sh320,000 for the greenhouse and its management.Diamond Properties, which owns nearly 500 acres of land in Isinya, develops and manages greenhouses. It is now running and managing more than 2,000 greenhouses under its phase 1 & 2 projects.