Banking…Agriculture…Chemistry

These three words seem to summarise my professional life so far.

This is to say that my career path has been anything but straight – as you can see from the diversity in the three words.

This journey has been punctuated by eventualities that deserve to be narrated in form of a story.

BANKING

I graduated from Kenyatta University in 2003 armed with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Of course there was an air about doing a science course…but it sort of deflated right after stepping out of college.

A number of us got entry level jobs as medical reps or quality analysts in SME industries.

However these opportunities weren’t enough to absorb all of us.

So some of us had to take a detour and venture into other fields.

And the banking field was very accommodative.

The Kibaki government was taking over when I was completing college and the Kenyan economy was on steroids.

I was a credit analyst during most of my 6+ years stint in a local bank.

Credit analysis involved connecting with customers in need of credit facilities.

It involved assessing their financial needs and advising them on the best facilities to help them move forward – be it loans, overdrafts etc.

Credit analysis – and the customer service that went with it – helped me learn people skills (a skill not taught in schools).

But it also ushered me into the world of entrepreneurship.

You see, most of my credit customers were businessmen in need of credit facilities.

Normally, I could sit down with them and listen to their entrepreneurial stories.

Without their knowledge, they would be mentoring me into the world of business.

Imagine a businessman explaining to you his business journey in the most animated way possible – knowing that they may benefit from a loan…

And in the process, you are impacted as a banker – that was my story.

Everyday inspiration on this front meant only one thing – my time in the bank was running out.

So after slightly over half a decade, I tendered my resignation and ventured into agribusiness.

AGRICULTURE

My agricultural journey wasn’t as straight.

It involved making my hands dirty.

As messy as it was, greenhouse farming looked promising though.

I grew tomatoes and then capsicums which I sold to the nearby market – to ‘mamambogas’ or vegetable vendors.

But my story with dirt was punctuated with overuse of pesticides.

And this didn’t bother me at all at that time…

Until I started my postgraduate coursework in environmental sciences.

But my love-hate relationship with pesticides was cut short one day by a gusty wind that brought down my greenhouse in a moment.

All of a sudden, my investment was gone.

I needed to think of an alternative to keep me going after leaving formal employment and – boy – times became very hard.

I remember buying sacks of charcoal to use as fuel…

I remember my shanty being infested with rats and mice (rats are the big kahunas)…

I remember not even affording ksh 50 fare and trekking often along the railway line…

I remember selling my TV, gas cylinder and other assets just to put some food on the table.

I had completed the first year of my masters degree and couldn’t proceed further because of lack of fees.

However, my mind was forced to think out of the box one day.

Circumstances beyond me forced me to put up my piece of land for sale.

I thought, ‘…if I can’t gain from the use of this land, then I might as well sell it and gain some footing…’

And this is an experience I wish to share with those who’re holding onto non-profitable assets (and yet they are in need of cash).

A point comes when you may need to sell them… liquidate them to free up cash so that you can get going.

The sale of my piece of land enabled me do a couple of things…

It helped me complete my masters degree…

Getting a postgraduate qualification helped me find part time lecturing opportunities.

But let’s dwell in the masters degree for a moment here…

Why was I doing the postgraduate degree?

During my two year haetus while saving for fees to complete my studies, I recalled my experience in the bank…

The inspiration I gained from business people…

I know I had tried my hand in farming – oh and I forgot to mention, poultry – but somehow the enterprising spirit in me refused to give in.

Which made me question myself on how I could be entrepreneurial using environmental studies?

Remember that I had only completed my first year of studies.

For my second year, I was to write a thesis on a project of choice.

And herein, I marshalled my interest in business.

And material science was very promising in this regard.

What’s material science?

CHEMISTRY

Well, it’s a multidisciplinary area finding uses for natural and man-made solid substances in sorting out environmental problems.

Seems a bit abstract? Well picture this…

For example, one could manufacture a solid filter material to remove pollutants from polluted water.

If tried and tested, this filter could be sold and a business built out of it – you get the drift?

So I might have failed in greenhouse farming but still wanted to look at any other venture ahead of me with the eyes of an entrepreneur.

My project work therefore involved testing filter materials for water purification.

My masters studies were ultimately successful but my curiosity for production of such materials was still there.

I started landing a couple of part time teaching opportunities.

Initially, payment was hard to come by but after sometime, I started earning regularly.

But besides teaching and research, my interest in agriculture never went away either.

So I started planting some herbs on my balcony space.

After a while, I requested our apartment caretaker to allow me to farm veges on some empty space near our flat.

And he was positive about it (he even allowed me to use water for free l – thanks Mr Chege).

So I reentered agriculture but only this time with benefit of hindsight – i.e. no use of chemical pesticides or mineral fertilizers.

They call it organic farming – but it’s also known as agroecology or regenerative agriculture.

My knowledge in chemistry made me wary of chemicals in food.

So when we moved to a new place with a small frontyard, I took it as a duty to grow crops without the use of chemicals.

From Tomatoes to potatoes…

From Swisschard (what we call spinach) to kale…

From traditional African vegetables to cabbages…

I tried, tested, triumphed and got trounced in the agricultural field.

But I never grew tired.

I knew deep within me that good things will come out of this dirty job.

At times people around me would wonder why I put up so much effort.

But I kept on (though at times I looked silly)..

I kept on connecting with like minded farmers, chefs, lobbyists and other stakeholders.

We started conversations around safe food, organic farming etc.

Months down the line our effort paid off and we were sponsored for an agroecology conference.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Our sponsors (who are an established NGO) proposed that we register the organization, develop a proposal of activities and we would qualify for some funding.

Now hold onto that story thread and let’s flashback a little…

Remember that I had completed my masters degree?

I chose to register for a PhD – still in the line of materials (as I had mentioned before).

Since the studies would strictly be through research, I angled my studies towards agriculture.

Lot’s of agricultural nutrients are lost through wastewater.

So what if I find ways of recovering these nutrients to make fertilizers?… or so I thought???

Crazy isn’t it?

I know, it was a crazy dream but I still put it down in a proposal.

COVID slowed down things so i wasn’t able to do much over 2 years.

But on the third year, my supervisor informed me of a research initiative interested in funding my project because it was based on the circular economy.

I didn’t consider it so much at first.

But I took it seriously once I realized that this initiative had paid part of my fees and given me some stipend to work on the project.

Right now, I’m on a partial scholarship!

BOTTOM LINE

It was easy for me to brush aside farming…

It’s dirty…

It pays less…

It’s not as classy…

But come to think of it – great opportunities have emerged from my interest to farm.

Opportunities I would never see coming if I stuck to my comfort zone of being ‘clean’ and ‘unmessy’.

Which brings me to the title of this article:

“Sometimes the messiest option is the best option.”

True story.