My name is Gilbert Tarus and I hail from Kenya. I am twenty years old and I finished my secondary education in 2013.
I was unable to further my education because I had four other siblings in secondary school and being the eldest, I decided to give them an opportunity to also finish their secondary education.
I decided to go into farming to assist my father. Life was not easy. I used to struggle a lot by selling vegetables at the closest local market with little profit. I had no training on how to attend to customers, how to produce quality products and how to create new Markets for my Agricultural products. To overcome these challenges, I started a company by the name Liedaey Enterprise that deals with supplying horticultural products to local markets and schools.
Attending the Young Africa Works Summit in Kigali Rwanda was an eye-opener for me. Through my mentors Catherine Watson and Pamela Yieke, I was able to learn on how to create a good environment to do agribusiness I was able to develop my personal image, self-confidence, ability to work with others, ability to communicate and set goals, knowledge about myself and community involvement.
During the Summit I learned that the youth should reject the status quo of seeking employment and demand a better future of creating employment by practicing agribusiness. This motivated me to set a roadmap to educate the youth and women in my community on global farming techniques which offers them the opportunity to become financially independent by improving their agribusiness and networking skills.
After meeting with my new Mentor in Kenya Mr. Elijah Koech, I have also realized a tremendous change in my business. He taught me on how to write a good business plan, how to keep farm records, saving weekly and he has connected me with Agricultural extension officers within my sub-county. They have visited me twice already and advised me on best farm practices. I also shared the same knowledge with youths and women in my community.
Mentors reflections
Elijah and Cathy are so proud of him as they evaluate the transformation that has taken place in Gilberts career and personal life. They have watched Gilbert grow from the young supplier of potatoes into a professional agripreneur who now is a source of inspiration all youth in his community. Currently, Gilberts venture employs three youth: a supplier, an accountant and a storekeeper. The young man has added on to his business of supplying potatoes. He now has a poultry farm which his mum and sister help him manage. And he sells broilers to hotels in Kenya.
The mentors are so impressed with how Gilbert has used the knowledge he acquired through YAWS to transform his business. Initially, though he was working hard, his business used to realize very low income which was not even documented. But through proper bookkeeping which he learned from this program, Gilberts venture with the potatoes alone makes him an average of KSh 3,500.00 a day which is equivalent to $5.00.
Mr. Koech is particularly excited about the fact that Gilbert who used to work alone on a low income now has employed three young people in his enterprise: a storekeeper, an accountant and a supplier who supplies the potatoes on a tuk-tuk (motorbike used by suppliers). He believes Gilberts success is attributed to his accountability to his mentors and to his passion to inspire the young ones in his community who look up to him.
The mentors describe the mentoring program as an eye opener which enables the young agripreneurs to see beyond their immediate environment. It is a good program they would recommend for any young person who wants to excel in agribusiness.