The Internet has truly transformed the world. With just a click of the button, we have access to a wealth of information that some are using to make their fortunes.
Take Paul Ruto, formerly a banker now a successful mushroom farmer. He resigned from his bank job and now makes five times what he used to earn.
After reading widely on the Internet, Ruto realised he could earn more money from farming. He did not hesitate.
“I first [ventured into] dairy farming to earn extra income but I realised that marketing milk was not easy and it was labour intensive,” says the Bachelor of Science graduate from Moi University.
“After reading about mushroom farming on Facebook my friends and I formed a WhatsApp group on mushroom farming and learnt more about the changing technologies and advised one another.”
Ruto left formal employment in 2017 after undergoing training on mushroom farming at the University of Eldoret early that year. He later went to Kakamega county for more practical training.
“From Kakamega and with my small investment from dairy farming, I converted my dairy farmhouse into a mushroom farmhouse,” Ruto says.
Putting up the farmhouse was an inexpensive affair. It required materials such as banana leaf waste, wheat straw, sawdust and sugar waste from factories. These can be found for free or at a low cost. He says it was the cottonseed that was a bit expensive.
“You can pick wheat straw at a cost of Sh2,000 per tonne and sugar dust waste at Sh1,000 per tonne, compare that with two kilos of maize certified seed at Sh600, the inputs for mushroom are cheap,” he says.
The planting materials, however, are expensive as the seedlings are bought in spores form. “To start mushroom farming, one is required to have two houses for the harvest to be continuous as after planting one is required to harvest after 45 days and replant after three months,” Ruto says.
“I started with one house but with only the first harvest the demand was overwhelming and I went for a soft loan to build two more mushroom houses to enable me to sustain my clients.”
Eight mushroom houses later, the demand for the mushrooms and mushroom products still cannot be met as the market stretches from Kericho to Nyamira, Kisii, Narok and Bomet counties. “I maintain that technology is wonderful since I don’t travel a lot to market my products, I use digital platforms to reach the market and use the same to get my money,” he says.
Ruto sends his produce directly to the customers and at the same time applies business-to-business model to reach the market.
He says there are six mushroom varieties in the market but most farmers grow Oyster and Button, which are in high demand.
“The other varieties like Shiitake, Portobello, Gardama and Maitake mushrooms are rare in the market and sometimes are imported by supermarkets and hotels as they have special customers,” Ruto says.
Mushrooms are in demand for their high nutritional value.
Ruto advises young people to venture into mushroom farming. “I challenge the youth to stop using the internet to look for inappropriate pictures and videos but as a means to change their lives,” he says.
Ruto is not against formal employment. “Employment is good for raising money to start off and also learning the skills you need for survival in business,” he says.
The former banker however cautions that mushroom seedlings are very expensive since they require a scientific process and a laboratory for the spores to be cultured in sorghum.
The farmer, who is in his late 30s, has employed eight young people who he is also training to start their own farms.
“I decided to be a permanent employee in this venture for quality control and product sustainability but I occasionally engage casual labourers,” he says.
Ruto says internet connectivity is a game-changer. It has transformed how we work, facilitated the transfer of knowledge and made business management cheap.
He encountered some challenges while training and that’s why he intends to transform part of his farm into a training school.
Due to the challenges of getting seedlings, Ruto plans to establish a spore laboratory to reduce the cost of production and at the same time give farmers in the region easy access to seedlings.
As we part, Ruto appeals to research institutions to sponsor studies in the African mushroom, which he fears will soon become extinct as there is little literature about it.