From a high school interest to a successful business

Afia Nzele is a 25-year-old agro-entrepreneur from Kwale town who took SIYB entrepreneurship training at Ukunda, Kwale County, in the context of the GoBlue project. Afia was living with her family, who had already experienced starting (and closing) a business in the agriculture sector, when she had the idea to restart her parents’ business with a small capital that she had been saving. Her interest in agriculture and business dated back to 2012, when she was in high school. After high school, she joined a local organization that offered entrepreneurship training and enabled her to start her company to grow and sell vegetables to the locals.

She started the business by planting different kinds of vegetables, which required a lot of effort and time. To develop her company, she acquired loans from different financial institutions. To identify which variety of vegetables to grow and sell, Afia did market research by surveying about the community’s needs and wants. Currently, her business employs 2 people. It has an annual revenue of Ksh. 82,360, a profit of Ksh. 57,115 and it is the major supplier of vegetables in the area.