An entrepreneur who quit his job to venture into sugarcane value addition is now earning at least Sh10,00 in profits daily, 10 times more income from his initial career.

Twenty seven year old Dominic Jisemba makes sugarcane juice, a business he started in January this year after quitting a security job at Alasraya Security Company in Qatar which was earning him Sh41,000 monthly.

“A family friend from Kenya advised me to venture into sugarcane juice production because he felt there was ready market and demand,” said Jisemba.

A research by Joaquim Mauricio Duarte, a scientist, on health benefits of sugar revealed that a natural compound found in sugarcane juice was shown to reduce the growth of human cancer cells.

The research further said that this compound was most effective against colon cancer cells and multidrug resistant breast cancer. Sugarcane juice is therefore beneficial to consumers with statistics revealing that cancer deaths have doubled over the last five years from 20,000 to 40,000 according to the Kenya Cancer Network of Organisations.

Having saved Sh87,100 from his security job in Qatar, he procured basic materials for his then to be production business: a machine at Sh80,000, sugarcane at Sh3000, jinja at Sh800, lemon at Sh500 and plastic cups at a cost of Sh500.

“Two months into the business, I still did not have a specific working space because I used to move depending on where the demand was high,” said Jisemba.

After a two-day training at a local shop in Nairobi where he bought the machine, the entrepreneur employed four people to help in cleaning sugarcane and welcoming visitors.

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“I pay my employees Sh1000 a day as per our contract basis. We make a staff of five and work together regardless of who is the boss and who are the employees,” said Jisemba.

Jisemba grinds 70 pieces of cane in a day which yields 700 glasses of juice. A 200ml glass of juice goes at Sh50 while a 500ml glass cost Sh100. One sugarcane retails at Sh30.

The graduate from Nairobi aviation collage now engages in a field related to what he graduated in; catering.

“I make a profit of Sh10,000 a day after settling all production costs and my employee’s salaries. It is an initiative I was not sure about while I started but now caters for my bills and expenses,” said Jisemba.

 Just as many business personnel opt for customer satisfaction as their first priority, Jisemba is not an exemption. He believes that his clients are the reason he wakes up in the morning to grind sugarcane and extract juice.

“I get my clients from church gatherings, social events, referrals and the Nairobi International Trade fair (Agricultural show),” said Jisemba.

His main challenge comes in when sugarcane retailers become inconsistent and fail to deliver his order on time despite him having paid for all expenses.

“Every business has its own shortcoming. At times my business runs smooth and at times it’s tough. Sugarcane market in Nairobi is unreliable and sometimes we order sugarcane from retailers in Kisii County who supply a maximum of 600 pieces on a lorry for one order,” said Jisemba.

Apart from sugarcane juice, Jisemba does exhibition and markets grill pans and duster mops. He uses the earnings secured from the exhibitions to order extra sugarcane which bails him out during sugarcane shortage in the market.

“I sometimes sell the extra stock of sugarcane to friends especially when the market is dry. I sell them at an added cost of Sh6,” said Jisemba.

In five years-time, he wishes to expand his business, buy other machines and employ more staff for efficient running of the business.

“I want to create employment and at the same time distribute more sugarcane juice to various parts of the country,” said Jisembe.

The Umoja based entrepreneur advices youths to invest in sugarcane juice business because it has a ready market and few health benefits.

Dominic can be contacted on +254 718 216 271

As tired soils and failed rains take a toll on farms with traditional crops like maize and beans recording unprecedented low yields, farmers are turning to fish farming as a way of boosting income, a venture that is now paying off.

John Kabiru one of the farmers who have relied on maize and beans for the last three decades decided to take a loan worth Sh300,000 from a Sacco which he invested in fish pond. Since then, he has never looked back despite the challenges of the effects of climate change.

In a year, he said he makes an average of Sh200,000 from the sale of the mature fish against the Sh35,000 he used to make from the maize and beans. "I still grow maize and beans in my two acre piece of land and sell the surplus to supplement my earnings. But my venture into commercial fish farming was the best decision I ever made," Kabiru said.

Kenya is among the countries in the world in which farmers are feeling the effects of climate change. Erratic rainfall patterns coupled with unprecedented long droughts are the manifestations of the variations in the climate taking away favorable environment for higher yields. Soil fertility is also declining in many farms across the country resulting to dwindled harvests.

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The ministry of agriculture is engaged in extensive sensitization drives enlightening farmers on the type of fertilizer to use to avoid advancing the effects of increased acidity or lowered alkalinity on crop farming. While all these account to the overall crop, livestock and fisheries performance in the East African country, farmers are advised to shift from conventional monocropping to mixed farming.

This is intended to reduce risks attached to the total failure of the single crop, death of livestock or fish causing extreme hunger in the households. Kabiru is among the many farmers in Kenya who are taking seriously the advice of the agricultural officers. With unpredictable weather patterns, he said, a farmer cannot take chances in one crop farming activity.

"In 2011, there was a heavy downpour which flooded my pond and killed all the stocked 1,000 tilapia fingerlings. If I had put all my hopes in the fish, I do not know how I could have paid school fees for my children," he said. In 2000, the ministry of agriculture, livestock and fisheries began a countrywide campaign of encouraging farmers to embrace commercial fish farming to boost household food security and agricultural earnings.

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Mary Mukaru, an officer with the ministry of fisheries based in Nakuru County, said farmers are increasingly diversifying into fish farming to expand their avenues of generating income. "Across the country, we have more and more farmers now setting up fish ponds. Commercial fish farming is a lucrative venture which can alleviate hunger and poverty in many households," she said.

Through various platforms including farmers' field days and agricultural exhibitions, the ministry officers train farmers on how to rear, harvest, process and market the fish. Mukaru said the demand for fish has overtime grown due to transformation of Kenyan's eating habits.

While this exerts pressure on the marine sources of fish as fishermen overharvest to meet the overstretched demand, encouraging farmers to construct fish ponds is seen as a means of addressing the overdependence nature.

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In the Kenya, fishing activities are mainly done at the Indian Ocean, Lake Victoria, Lake Baringo, Lake Turkana and Lake Naivasha.

While growing some crops may not be possible in the dry areas without adequate water, Mukaru said fish farming can be done with liner ponds which minimize loss of water through evaporation. "Instead of farmers completely losing their livelihood when the crops fail and livestock die due to drought, it is important that they expand to fish farming which can do well in even dry areas," she said.

In a country where 46 percent of the youth population is unemployed, commercial fish farming provides them with a productive opportunity for self-employment as argued by the fisheries officer. "We are working towards changing the attitude of the youth towards agriculture because fish farming is one of the sub-sectors that they can adequately explore and earn a good living," she said.

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The government of Kenya has already instituted state funds accessible to youths to start up income generating projects. They can form groups and apply for Uwezo Fund or the Youth Enterprise Fund to necessitate their plans of expanding their business ventures.