Kenyan artist Sanaipei Tande has enjoyed a twenty-year career in the showbiz industry, enjoying massive success in the music and film industry. Her sultry voice has landed her roles as a radio personality and a karaoke hostess, and in a bid to expand her income streams, she has recently taken up chicken farming.
Speaking in an interview with Citizen TV, the singer stated that she began her chicken farm in the Memusi area of Lower Matasia in Ngong. She rears Kienyeji chicken both for meat and eggs.
Sanaipei recalled her early days when she began her venture, narrating how she was blinded by the prospect of commercial viability. This could not have been further from the reality, as she was forced to close down her business due to many requirements and limitations set by restaurants and butcheries.
“Sometimes they wanted us to supply a certain number every week, which now became an issue because we hadn’t got to a point where there was enough for us to supply like that,” she explained.
To add to her misfortune, the market was flooded with chicken farmers, and securing the right connections to access the market proved to be a challenge for the entertainer.
She decided to relaunch her business, this time armed with the right knowledge of her business approach, and began acquiring orders by reaching out to businesses or people in need of her products.
She meticulously packs the collected eggs, prioritizing the placement of recently gathered eggs at the forefront of the sales rotation. Packed in trays of 30 eggs, she delivers the products to her customers.
Despite achieving success, she maintained that the challenges have remained the same since she began, adding that it is sometimes difficult to keep up with the supply especially owing to stringent requirements from clients.
“We have tried to sell to restaurants and butcheries as we did tried to do before, but the expectation is still the same, ‘We want this’, ‘ We want this size’, ‘ We want this number’ every week and keeping up with that supply might be difficult for us on that side,” she stated.
To prospective farmers, she advised them to take advantage of the parcels of land at their disposal and begin agriculture as early as possible. There will always be a market for shelter and food, and having land offers both, hence agribusiness offers an opportunity for wealth generation.
“When I look at where I live, I’m on agricultural land. To sit and do nothing with it is like an insult to those who have no spaces to farm and that’s the only thing they know how to do,” she said.
“Here you are, you’ve been given the opportunity, the land and the know-how. Why not use it to the best of your ability and even for the benefit of other people?” she posed.
Becoming a part-time chicken farmer has yielded great returns for the songbird, as she revealed that she has made good money from her venture.
