Finding Hope in Farming
Conversation* with JOHN MWANGI GITAU, Vipani Farmer, 30 September 2005

Thirty years old and a father of one, John Mwangi Gitau started farming 2 years ago because he ran out of options. "When I finished school, I went to the city. It is what those who are lucky to finish schooling do out here - go to the city to find a job. Most never find a job, but in my case, starting off in the city was not a problem. My father had connections and I had no difficulty getting a casual job in an engineering firm. Before long, I was ready to settle on my own and start a family", says John, as he recalls the good times.

"Just when everything was working well for me, I lost my job, and this time, I had no one who could help me. Although I spent all my time looking for a job, I could only manage to find work for one day a week, and soon, I was unable to support myself. During one of my visits at home, and as usual I had no money, I was dreading how I was going to be received by my family. To my surprise, my wife was calm; she told me she had started growing her own French beans at the same time that she was working for others in their farms. I decided then and there to abandon my efforts at making it in the city and settle into farming".

"But problems seemed to be always following us. Farming had so many challenges. We had no capital, and we couldn't make any money because we couldn't get good prices for our produce. No matter how hard I worked, I couldn't save anything to rent a bigger piece of land. I worried about going back to the city. The two years that I was doing farming was a waste; there was nothing to show for it except that I was able to feed my family." "Those were the times that I would like to forget..." John adds after some silence.

"It was during that time I heard about Vipani. Joseph Kiaro, friend and Vipani farmer, kept on telling me about you. And by God's grace, I was considered to be a member. Since last April when I joined, I'm amazed at how our lives are rapidly changing. We have bought a goat and I was able to upgrade my bicycle with a new frame and a new pair of tires; all these in just a few months. Right now, my concern is how to take care of my wife who is about to have our second child. I'm expecting some money from this month's harvest and that will take care of our maternity bill. After this, I want to start saving so as to buy some land."

Simon Muguro, John's neighbour farmer, narrates, "When John came back to the village two years ago, we welcomed him by showing him where he can rent some land and teaching him what we knew about farming. But recently, John, who we thought was learning from us, surprised us all. He was renting more land and growing more crops, all in an organized way. John's farm, with its healthy crops, including some new crops that we thought cannot be grown in our area, is admired by all. He was learning from us, and now we are learning from him".

"We noticed people visiting John's farm regularly and learned that he was with Vipani" says Simon. "We asked John and other farmers to help us so we can also join, and I am happy to learn that Vipani is coming to our village soon", adds Simon, who is among the 30 potential farmers in his village to be included in the next Vipani expansion. "My village has many young farmers who are struggling to make it in farming, and we hope that John's experience will be our experience as well".