Fred Njuguna, a Kenyan, has been living in Sydney and working for a pharmaceutical company for the last five years.
But despite living miles away, this has not stopped the native of Murang’a in central Kenya, from farming back home.
Njuguna engages in dairy farming where he keeps a herd of 13 animals with the help of his parents and trusted farmworkers.
“Six of the animals are milked offering at least 100 liters of milk every day,” he said in a recent email interview. “The milk is supplied to a local processor in the county,” he added.
Njuguna is among an increasing number of Kenyans living in the diaspora who are engaging in agribusiness back home, emboldened by improved information and communication technologies.
The technologies that include social media apps, CCTV cameras and video internet calls enable Kenyans in the diaspora to farm from Northern America, Europe, Asia and Africa, among other continents, where they live.
Flowers, onions, bees, fish, dairy cows and chickens are among the favorite crops and livestock the farmers are keeping or growing.
Through the technologies, the diaspora farmers receive real-time updates of what is happening on their farms, thus, keeping abreast with day-to-day activities.
“I get photos of my cows being milked, feeding or being checked by a vet whenever it happens,” said Njuguna.
The farmer also monitors the daily production records through an app that his workers use in Kenya, and ask questions whenever he sees a red flag.
“I can know which animal is ready for breeding or whose production has declined by monitoring the information fed into the app by my manager. This is what gives me confidence to farm back home,” he said.
Some of the diaspora farmers have installed CCTV cameras on their farms thus are able to follow in real-time what their workers are doing.
“That is the beauty of technology. In my case, we have WhatsApp groups through which we communicate specific farm issues with workers and my parents who oversee the general running of our beef farm,” said Jacob Sitati, a law professor in the U.S. who keeps the animals in Bungoma, western Kenya.
Sitati noted that records regarding animal numbers, births, deaths and vet visits are received every day through WhatsApp, which has become integral in communication thus hastening decision-making.
He keeps Boran, Red Poll, Sahiwal and Ankole animals for meat and some Friesian animals for milk.
“Diaspora farming is worth it but even with technology, you have to have a reliable manager and workers. Our parents are also helping a great deal. You need trust and reliability to complement technology for the farm to be successful,” he said, adding he visits to check on the farm.
Also farming from the U.S. is Joseph Oloimooja, who grows onions in Kajiado, south of Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
He notes that social media apps have been helpful in monitoring his crops and activities on the farm as they happen, enabling him to expand the project.
Bernard Mwaso of Edell IT Solution observed that technology has become a key enabler and facilitator in business, giving confidence to especially those who cannot be at certain places to perform a task.
“For the Kenyans in the diaspora, such communication technologies help to curb fraud where initially people would be told a project is ongoing yet there is nothing yet on the ground. With the right people on the farm, technology, therefore, encourages investment creating jobs and foreign exchange,” he said. End item
