‘Daddy’s girl, daughter of the farm’: Millicent Okumu’s road back to agriculture

Millicent Okumu does not leave you questioning whether she thinks what she is stating. She talks with energy, with clearness about whom she is developing for. Ask where the business is heading, and there is little doubt; ask whether she will still be running it in 10 years, and the response is no.

Already, she anticipates Agriflexthe Kenyan farming organization she co-founded, to be running in a minimum of 5 African nations, to be sustainably successful, and to be led by someone else. She may take an advisory function. In the meantime, nevertheless, the business inhabits even the hours she allegedly invests far from it. At household events, incomplete jobs follow her into the space.

Her daddy, a civil servant and farmer, raised livestock and grew enough food to support loved ones beyond his home. She was close to him, however less passionate about the farm. She prevented farming at school and university, just to discover herself back in it through a logistics task at iProcure in 2017.

Now she offers farm inputs, releases spraying drones and listens to farmers discuss why a creative piece of innovation may be of little usage to them. That tail end has actually implied decreasing strategies and turning away financiers.

“We remain in 2026,” she states. “We are no longer in 2006.”

She is restless for development, however progressively specific about what counts as development, and who advantages.

This interview has actually been modified for length and clearness.

If I had satisfied you at 10 years old and asked what you wished to end up being, what would you have stated? Would that lady acknowledge the lady sitting here today?

I would not have actually understood precisely what I wished to end up being, however I was currently extremely identified and enthusiastic.

I was a daddy’s woman, constantly following my dad around and taking an interest in whatever he was doing. Even when he was going over severe matters, I wished to exist. I wasn’t the firstborn, I was typically the individual he entrusted jobs to.

I could not have actually informed you that I would wind up doing what I do today, however I understood I would be effective in one method or another.

What did cash appear like in the home you matured in? Was it something individuals gone over honestly, anxious about silently, or anticipated you to head out and discover?

Cash wasn’t something we talked about freely, however we didn’t need to go out searching for it either. My dad was a civil servant who likewise enjoyed farming. There sufficed to look after us.

That altered when he passed away, simply after I had actually completed Form Four. All of a sudden, I needed to go out and discover cash. I began operating at a young age and determining how to look after everyone, including myself.

Cash then ended up being something we went over freely since we needed to exercise how to use the little I was making.

Your background remains in logistics and supply chains. What took place that made farming individual enough for you to develop a company around it?

Farming had actually constantly belonged to my life. My dad had a great deal of livestock and land, and farming fed our household, our extended household and even other individuals in the town.

He was specific about getting qualified seeds. He would bring them from Kisumu or take a trip to Homa Bay town to purchase them. All of us went to the farm, although I was the one who wasn’t especially crazy about it. My dad understood that, however he likewise identified that I had other strengths.

In high school, I prevented farming. At university, I prevented it once again. In 2017, farming came calling.

I had actually been operating in logistics when iProcure approached me. The business had actually raised financing and required somebody to establish its logistics department. I participated October 2017, which altered whatever.

The work exposed me to a lot, and I grew to like it. By the time I chose to leave, I understood I wished to continue operating in farming.

Take me back to the very first farmer you attempted to convince to deal with Agriflex. What did they ask that your service strategy had not prepared you for?

To be sincere, hiring farmers and agro-dealers wasn’t especially challenging since of the relationships we had actually constructed at iProcure. Individuals understood us and comprehended what we might provide for them.

One farmer asked a concern that remained with us: “Millicent and Isaac, you understand we require inputs, and you are providing us access to them and recommendations. What occurs after that?”

Isaac is my co-founder and deals with business activities and operations. What the farmer was asking us about was the marketplace for their fruit and vegetables. We were supporting production, however the difficulties didn’t end there.

That made us consider how we might assist farmers discover purchasers. We now have a strategy to support a few of them with that. We do not wish to assist them through production and after that leave them hanging, even as we continue presenting other parts of business.

You deal with drones and traceability tools. How do you describe what you do to a relative who disrupts midway through and asks, “But Millicent, just what do you offer?”

I begin with what is most convenient to comprehend: I offer seeds to farmers and agro-dealers. I likewise offer crop-protection items, consisting of agrochemicals and foliar feeds. Those are things individuals acknowledge and utilize, even back in your home.

I discuss that we are assisting farmers move away from by hand spraying their farms. With a drone, we can spray an acre in a minute. Rather of utilizing 100 litres of water per acre, we can utilize about 10 litres.

We are making the work simpler, decreasing the time farmers invest in these jobs and assisting them farm more effectively. We remain in 2026. We are no longer in 2006.

Inform me about a time a farmer took a look at something you took pride in and successfully stated, “That is smart, however it will not work here.” What did you do next?

That occurred with the innovation side of business. Agriflex is technology-enabled, and we have actually been believing thoroughly about how innovation can match our work and enhance what we provide farmers.

We desired to introduce a mobile app with a number of functions, consisting of illness detection and suggestions on which inputs to utilize.

When you go out to the farms, you experience useful issues. The web connection is bad, or there is no network at all. Numerous farmers likewise currently acknowledge the typical bugs and illness impacting the crops they grow frequently, such as maize and beans.

They informed us: “If this is what your app will do, it will not fix my instant issue.”

What they desired was access to standard, useful details about farming without needing to wait on us to arrange a training session or presentation. They were currently utilizing WhatsApp. Could we make the details they required available? Could we begin there, register them and after that develop on that relationship?

That feedback made us decrease. We had actually wished to present the innovation instantly, however we listened to farmers and agro-dealers and just rolled it out this year.

It likewise indicated stating no to some financiers who desired innovation to be the concern. The feedback from the field was informing us something various, and we chose to follow that.

Who pays Agriflex, and for what? Where does the farmer’s gain end and your margin start?

2 groups pay us: agro-dealers and farmers. A big percentage of our profits originates from agro-dealers, whom we provide wholesale.

We wish to reach as numerous smallholder farmers as possible, however we can not reach all of them straight. Resolving agro-dealers permits us to serve more farmers through companies they currently purchase from.

Farmers can likewise stroll into our 2 outlets, in Molo and Ol Kalou, and purchase straight from us. Presently, they spend for inputs and drone services. We likewise presented soil screening about a month back.

We work out much better trading terms with makers, which permits us to use cost effective rates to farmers and agro-dealers while making a margin.

Trust, dependability and cost have actually been really crucial to us. Agro-dealers require to understand that we will provide them dependably, and both they and the farmers require costs that work for them.

What is the most pricey presumption you have made in this company, and for how long did it take you to confess was incorrect?

There was a task we handled early in business that looked extremely profitable. On paper, whatever recommended it would work. Based upon the details we had actually gotten and the presumptions we had actually made, it appeared like an excellent chance.

It didn’t work out as we anticipated.

It took us 3 months to concur that we required to stop. We needed to accept that it wasn’t working, suffice off and carry on.

When individuals speak about empowering females farmers, the language can end up being extremely refined. Inform me about one lady whose experience required you to alter how Agriflex runs.

There is a lady farmer with about 50 acres that she plants every season. We were providing her with inputs, however spending quality time on her farm revealed us just how much more assistance she required.

Spraying even 20 acres included a number of employees over a number of days. She needed to exist monitoring, and there was a 2,000-litre water tank on the farm. That work, the expenses were still really high.

It made us ask what the assistance provided through empowerment programs really modifications. Does it minimize the time a lady invests in the farm? Does it minimize the resources she needs to take into it?

With the drone, we finished the spraying in about 30 minutes.

That experience made us stop briefly and reassess our top priorities. Rather of focusing just on hiring more consumers, we required to look more carefully at how we supported the ones we currently had. That uses to our agro-dealers too.

We have actually likewise supported her with discovering a market for her fruit and vegetables, despite the fact that is not the core of our service.

For me, empowerment indicates making somebody’s life much easier in methods they can really see and experience.

Have you ever strolled into a conference and understood you would need to show yourself before anybody would discuss your organization? How did you manage the space?

Yes. In some cases individuals state: “When you stated you were Millicent, and we heard what you were doing, we anticipated somebody older and larger.”

They understood they were fulfilling a lady, however I still didn’t appear like the individual they had actually envisioned. Comes the concern: why should they rely on that I comprehend what I am doing?

What has actually worked for me is understanding my organization completely. I require to comprehend every element of it, consisting of the numbers.

I likewise make use of my experience. I have actually done this work in the past, and I take pride in what I accomplished. I am not entering into it blindly. I have a plan and some understanding of what will work and what will not.

When you can discuss that plainly, individuals start to listen. How you bring yourself into the space matters too. They might have shown up with presumptions, however you can provide factors to reassess.

What has been your closest encounter with quiting? What took place, who did you call, and what made you return the next early morning?

There have actually been a number of minutes, however I would concentrate on fundraising. My co-founder and I have significant experience in business itself. We comprehend the work. Financing has actually been more difficult.

Often discussions advance extremely well, and you start to anticipate a favorable result. You have strategies prepared and are preparing to get things moving. The feedback comes: “Let’s time out. Let’s wait.”

You discover yourself asking: wait till when?

It can leave you feeling so dejected that you question whether to continue and why you are doing it at all.

The individual I call is constantly my co-founder, Isaac. I inform him things aren’t going as I believed they would, and we talk through it.

What brings us back is individuals we have actually served. In spite of the difficulties, there has actually been a lot happiness in the journey.

One lady informed us that formerly, her farm had not produced sufficient surplus to aid with school charges. In 2015, after putting aside food for her family, she had actually enough delegated pay school charges for her 2 kids. She was so delighted.

Stories like that make us feel we need to keep going.

We likewise need to stay versatile and change rapidly when things alter. Having a co-founder who comprehends that we are developing for the long term makes the journey simpler.

What are you like when things fail? If I asked your co-founder, would he explain the exact same individual you will explain?

Absolutely. He would inform you that Millicent is extremely difficult and extremely stringent. He would likewise inform you that I am the most favorable individual.

When something fails, I am normally the one stating there need to be a silver lining to it. We may not see it right away, however maybe we will comprehend it tomorrow.

I move rapidly to the next concern: what do we do now? We can not remain in the exact same location, discussing what has actually taken place.

He would inform you I are difficult, however likewise that I am the individual who states: “This is short-lived. Offer it time. Let’s concentrate on what we can do next.”

What does business obtain from you that individuals closest to you often need to go without?

My time. Business gets a lot of my time.

Even when I am not working, it is at the back of my mind. I can be at a household occasion and unexpectedly keep in mind something I was expected to do.

Nowadays, I keep notes. If something strikes me when I am doing something else, I compose it down so I can go back to it later on.

I may be someplace doing something entirely unassociated to Agriflex, however Agriflex is still there in my ideas. It takes a great deal of my time and psychological energy.

You have actually gotten acknowledgment for your work. After the pictures and congratulations, which issue is typically still waiting on your desk? Has an award ever assisted you resolve it?

The issue is constantly getting the best inputs to our consumers at the correct time. Whether I remain in the field, getting an award or speaking someplace, that requirement stays.

You can never ever appear to have enough. The more you can provide, the more consumers require from you.

Awards have actually assisted by providing us acknowledgment and reliability. Some financiers comprehend how extensive specific programs or award procedures are. When they understand you have actually gone through those phases, it can make the discussion simpler and the procedure quicker, even if you do not eventually get the response you wished for.

Acknowledgment has actually likewise assisted us satisfy financiers who are a much better fit. Among our most significant fundraising obstacles early on was remaining in the incorrect spaces with the incorrect financiers.

Some awards and programs supply continuing assistance. The ladies business owners award we got through AGRA last month comes with assistance that continues beyond the award itself. These programs can take a look at various elements of business and suggest things that assist us enhance.

Some awards likewise feature cash, which enters into business.

Yes, they have actually assisted: through trustworthiness, connections, monetary assistance and continuous assistance.

Expect we reunite over lunch in 10 years. What would need to hold true about Agriflex, and about your life outside it, for you to state, “Adonijah, this deserved it”?

I think of development in a different way now. We desire regulated development.

In 10 years, I would like us to be running well in a minimum of 5 African nations. Already, I do not anticipate to be the CEO.

I desire business to be running completely, with another person leading it while I maybe serve in an advisory function.

I would like Agriflex to be acknowledged in Kenya, throughout Africa and worldwide as a business that has actually been resistant and end up being sustainably successful.

That would provide me happiness: seeing another person take the reins and continue constructing a fantastic service.

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