Laura is a 28-year-old Bungoma woman who makes a living by farming techniques she learned from online agricultural books.

Laura Nelima Lubasia, a recent Engineering graduate, plants catnip, a herb historically used to cure stomach and intestinal pains.

She was awarded a KES 1 million grant through Agri-biz, a European Union-funded initiative.

The 28-year-old went into the farming business after leaving his job at a private corporation.

A Modest Beginning

To begin, Laura spent KES 6,000 on cuttings of several herbs from a farmer in Nairobi.

She then propagated them on a tiny plot of ground before transplanting them to the main field.

“I intended to cultivate herbs for the export market at first, but I didn’t have the capital to build greenhouse-like other farmers,” Laura, who now farms on three acres, says.

Her first crop did well, and she sold it to her friends and neighbours, and she quickly began to receive referrals.

Diversification

She also grows flax, chia, black seed, dill, fennel, moringa, and fenugreek in addition to catnip herb.

“I produce about 20 different herbs, spices, and other therapeutic plants organically and in an open field,” Laura explains softly.

“From a small acreage, I was able to generate KES 10,000 to KES 20,000 per month, which pushed me to become commercial,” says the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology mechatronics engineering graduate.

Benefits of Research

Laura loves reading agricultural literature and she confirmed learning about the lucrative herb through online reading.

She often purchases seeds from Amazon.com. Some of her parents’ acquaintances in the United Kingdom have also sent her herbal books.

Laura’s perseverance and hard work earned has led her to acquire value-added devices like a dryer, distiller, and milling machine.

“I received further financial assistance from the EU through the Kenya Climate Innovation Centre, and I am now in the process of installing a solar-powered dryer,” adds Laura, who completed a short value-added course at the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute.

Lucrative Deal

She obtained a deal with a major supermarket last year to deliver 10 tonnes of chia seeds every three months. She now purchases vegetables from other farms and sells them to the merchant.

“Our business strategy is that when we make large orders for specific goods, we contract other farmers and educate them how to produce the herbs, assist them dry, and then package them,” explains the farmer, who employs four full-time employees and hires more as needed.

Future Plans

She intends to extend the acreage and educate other farmers to produce herbs to fulfil the rising demand in local and foreign markets, as well as to establish a value-added factory in the long run.

Catnips are used to manufacture cosmetic goods such as hydrosols, shower gel, beeswax lip balms, and butter, while dried herbs are used to make culinary products such as herb tea.

“We dry the herbs and bundle them in little packages for culinary goods.” Herbal infusions are what they’re called. “We combine the herbs for a specific health effect, such as increased immunity or detox,” Laura explains.

Final Thoughts

Herbs are among the crops that Kenya sends in large quantities to Europe. The European Union and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido) jointly manage the Market Access Upgrade Program (Markup) Kenya, which assists farmers in selling their goods overseas.

Source: Nation