By Seneiya Kamotho

After 15 years behind a desk as a secretary at a tobacco company, the last thing Anne Mburu would have imagined herself being after retirement was a farmer.

"Sometimes it is difficult to know what to invest in with one’s retirement benefits, so I found myself hopping from one business to another trying to make money and survive without a regular income," says Anne.

At first Anne put her money into distributing soft drinks at Dagoretti market, but the business was not lucrative.

Next, she opened a small food kiosk in Dagoretti Corner, where she cooked African dishes. This was quite a good business.

Anne realised there were green grocers who were looking for suppliers. She responded to their needs and has carved a niche for herslf as an organic farmer, an activity she thoroughly enjoys.

"Selling food is profitable because people always need something to eat or drink as they go about the day’s work," says Anne, "but the business requires a lot of stamina and hard work. It takes determination and strength to keep it going. It can be demanding for someone who has retired from a desk job. I found that I could not cope with the amount of supervision and hands-on management that such a business requires."

In order to meet the demand for the cooked food and beverages, Anne and her co-workers needed to get to the kiosk by 4am every day to light the fires and wash, peel, chop, clean as well as cook the various ingredients that went into preparing the meals. Opening shop any later than that meant they would miss the large number of early risers rushing to work in the morning. It also meant that the day’s lunch would be late. A competitor could scoop the morning and lunch sales easily just by turning up a little earlier.

Anne found herself waking up at 3am every morning just to keep track of the business! The schedule was too difficult to maintain.

"The last thing I imagined myself doing at 55 was waking up for the rest of my life at 3am!"

Indeed, many workers approach retirement imagining that it will be a time when they can finally put their tired feet up, rise at midday and enjoy the sunset years effortlessly minting money, surrounded by chuckling and chubby-cheeked grandchildren. Unfortunately, as reality sets in, many retirees come to the shocking realisation that money does not come easy and retirement benefits run out very fast.

Fatigue and frustration caused Anne to finally burn out and grind to a halt, completely run-down emotionally and physically. She went back to the drawing board and considered other options. She longed for something that would make her feel that she was truly enjoying the fruits of her many years of labour.

It was at this point that her eldest son started a green grocery in Watamu, Malindi, and he needed someone in Nairobi to supply him with fruits and vegetables for his shop. Anne dropped the kiosk idea and promptly started sourcing the stock her son needed from small-scale farmers in Kiambu and Karindi. She would then hire a truck and send someone to ferry them to her son in Watamu. She would buy them cheap and sell them to him with a small mark-up for her upkeep.

"It was then that I realised this was something I enjoyed, and that there were many green grocers in Nairobi, as well as individuals looking for fresh green produce.

I decided I could use my eight-acre plot in Karen to grow the vegetables and fruits instead of sourcing them from elsewhere, and only supplement the load with outside suppliers if what I grew was not sufficient for what he required.

This is how Anne finally —and accidentally — found her niche, and started supplying her son and other green grocers.

With the money she raised, she sunk two boreholes in order to have sufficient water for her plants, and bought dairy cows. In time, she used manure from her cowsheds to fertilise the farm.

In just a few months, Anne’s hard work paid off. Word had reached the extension workers at the Ministry of Agriculture about a woman in Karen who was doing wonders with organically grown vegetable products. They were soon knocking at her door and touring her neat rows of crops.

"They suggested to use my farm as a demonstration plot, and urged me to join a national competition for small-scale farmers. I was hesitant," says Anne modestly, "because I did not really think my produce was any different from that of other farmers in the area. But, eventually, they convinced me to try, so I did."

Anne was astonished to find she had come second nationally in the competition.

"They even called me to the next Agricultural Show at Jamhuri Park to receive a trophy and a certificate from former President Moi," Anne says excitedly.

Wise men say we should not despise small beginnings. What began as a small effort to supply her son with the produce he required for his shop, slowly snowballed into a flourishing business with Anne now supplying several green grocers and boasting a cowshed that holds 18 healthy cows.

A number of agricultural produce judges from the Ministry of Agriculture toured the small farm again and decided it was so finely managed that they would develop a demonstration plot on it, and celebrate the next Agricultural Field Day held annually on Anne’s farm.

This time, the Hon Kipruto arap Kirwa, then Minister for Agriculture, was the guest of honour.

In Anne’s newfound job, lessons in bookkeeping have come in handy especially as the business expands. She has also had to learn about vegetables, berries and herbs that she had never come across in her life.

"One time someone popped into our house and asked if there was fennel. I honestly thought she was talking about a person, I had no idea that this was a type of herb she was looking for," Anne says.

Now she sells gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries, fennel, mint, thyme, parsley, rosemary, zucchini and other products she knew nothing about and could not even pronounce properly before.

Today, Anne sells a wide array of organic produce, and her daughter Warucu has even opened a green grocery and sources most of her produce from her mother’s farm.

"It makes me happy to see my mother finally settled and happy in retirement, and doing something that she enjoys without feeling drained and frustrated," says Warucu.

Today, Anne wakes up in time for morning mass at 7am. She then comes home to run her farm business. She employs many workers.

"It gives me joy to create employment and to see my business grow without killing myself in the process. Once in a while I lend money to my children or buy them a gift. I really did not want to become a begging retiree!" says Anne who is considering venturing into processing.

"I want to add value through processing and sell even outside the country."

Anne is an example of a retiree who was fortunate enough not to burn her fingers completely and lose all her savings in failing business ventures as many unfortunate retirees do. Instead, she has learned that a green thumb alone can be a credible way to a wealthy and sweet retirement.