Page 156 - Agri-Business Management Handbook

Business Opportunity the neighboring Kericho County while
Considering the statistics given, JBK his mother was a small scale farmer
knew that the food industry presented who grew cereals, fruits, vegetables and
huge business globally and more kept dairy cattle in a 3 acre farm. When
specifically, he could engage in processing growing up, JBK had seen the post-
agricultural produce that would otherwise harvest losses that his mother incurred
be lost after harvesting. He called Weke, but had not thought that cumulatively,
the district agricultural extension officer the losses from all the farmers in the
to discuss the local market situation with region could amount to billions of money.
regard to post harvest losses and how
he could form an enterprise that would JBK attended the local primary
make money and at the same time reduce and secondary schools and held a
post-harvest losses and increase the bachelor’s degree in Dry Land Resources
incomes of the farmers, most of whom Management from Egerton University.
peasant farmers. Weke advised him that After graduating in 1991, he was employed
with about Ksh. 3,000,000 (US$37,500), as a cashier in a supermarket in Nairobi, a
he could buy fresh fruits and vegetables job he held for three years before taking
from the farmers, process and package up a sales job that had more flexible work
them for sale in the urban market of schedules. His main reason for quitting
Kenya. According to Weke, the demand the cashier’s job was the dissatisfaction
would be so huge that he would have he had internally as he always felt that
to think “going global” in a very short “he was doing his job but not his work.”
time – a voice that JBK internalized and Though the sales job paid his bills and had
kept within himself as the driving force. much better pay than the supermarket
one, JBK was never satisfied and he felt
James Boniface Kiptoo (JBK) that he had lots of unexploited potential
JBK was born in Njoro district, Nakuru within himself. In 2007, JBK got married
County in Kenya in 1969. His father to his childhood friend - Gladys and had
worked as a mechanical engineer in a 1 year old son – Kipchumba in 2009.

1. FAO is a United Nations (UN) intergovernmental organization established to solve
challenges faced by its 194 member nations in developing agriculture

2. Post-harvest losses can be qualitative (loss of nutritional value, acceptability or
edibility) or quantitative (physical loss measured in kilos or tonnes).

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