The story of Juliet Atieno Okoth, a dynamic 31-year-old from Siaya County, is one of unbeatable passion for agribusiness despite facing challenges.
Her entrepreneurial spirit led her to establish her first enterprise in 2011, focusing on roselle production. The crop was lucrative at the time due to its nutritional and medicinal benefits. It commanded a higher market price than other horticultural crops. But, access to land would emerge as a major bottleneck to her progress.
After graduating in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in Project Planning and Management, and serving in various roles, she decided to dedicate time to grow her agribusiness.
This vision led her to lease land to grow watermelons in 2016. However, she had to abandon the venture after the landowner demanded her plot back after the first harvest. There was little she could do but comply. After all, the lease was done informally, based on trust.
Undeterred, she leased another piece of land in 2020 to produce tomatoes. Similarly, the owner also repossessed, but this time before she could harvest her crop. This left her with huge losses. Still, she did not give up.
In May 2023, Juliet’s situation changed when she joined the Resilient Agriculture that works for Young People (RAY) Program. Through RAY, she received various trainings, including the importance of using formal agreements to lease farmland.
This training focused on identifying suitable land based on the intended agricultural enterprise, conducting due diligence to confirm land ownership and using formal land leasing documents correctly to provide legal protection.
Armed with this knowledge, Juliet successfully leased two acres in February 2024 for tomato production. Additionally, she customized her land lease agreement to include provisions for hiring farm inputs, such as a 400-meter pipe for irrigation, to enhance productivity.
“The new formal process of leasing land is key for any farmer who wants to practice large- scale production. I am glad that my farm is doing well. I feel secure to farm on the leased land. I am on track to get a good profit this season. I have employed two people to help me in the work,” she says.
After receiving support from RAY to register her business and reach out to financial institutions for credit, Juliet secured a loan of Ksh 150,000 from Equity Bank in April 2024. The financial support has played a key role in strengthening her agribusiness operations.
Juliet has also expanded into poultry production, after seeing successful young poultry farmers under the RAY project. The network of the agripreneurs is also a good source of market for her products. She recently sold 200 birds to a fellow RAY project participant. She has also joined a cooperative, which facilitates market access and ensures the acquisition of high-quality chicks.
Juliet's impact extends beyond her personal venture. She mentors twenty young men and women in agribusiness under RAY. One of them is Charles Ocholla, a poultry farmer who has increased his flock from 20 to 100. He’s also aggregating chicken from other farmers and selling them in the local market of Yala town.