Linet Wanzunzi is an unlikely entrepreneur. Linet, 45, lives with her brother and two sisters in a house in the hills of Kakamega, Kenya. Directly in front of the house are slabs of stone that mark where her father and mother rest.
When her mother passed away a few years ago, it became Linet’s duty as the eldest daughter to take care of her family, and to take over the farming. Initially, she continued on as her mother had—growing maize to eat, and vegetables to sell.
Then one day two years ago, her neighbor Harriett Masinjila hosted a “farmer field day” to show fellow farmers a new variety of bean that she had been able to grow and sell with great success. Linet took the leap and bought a small sample of bean seeds from the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) to try for herself.
The seeds cost 4,000 Kenyan shillings, or about U.S. $50. In three months, Linet grew beans that she was able to sell for 24,000 shillings—a five-fold profit. “It made me [able to] afford to pay school fees for my daughters,” Linet says proudly. She was so pleased that she went back to KARI to ask for more seeds. While there, she met Reuben Otsyula, the crop breeder who developed the bean she grew.
Reuben, whose work is supported by a grant from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, is quick to explain why beans are so important. “I don’t like hunger. [That’s why] beans interest me so much. This is a crop that really saves farmers out of the hungry situation.”
The common bean is a critical crop. Beans are a cheap of source of protein for people living in poverty—the “meat of the poor.” They are consumed at approximately 70 percent of all meals in Kenya and deliver important nutrients including amino acids, vitamin B, iron, and zinc. They grow quickly, which is good for food security: Plant a bean seed, and three months later you’ll have food. Growing beans is also good for the soil: It guards against erosion, improves soil fertility, and doesn’t require much fertilizer or water.
A quality bean variety can result in between 1,500 and 2,500 kilograms of beans per hectare. However, most poor farmers in Kenya don’t have access to good bean seeds, and produce only 400 kilograms per hectare. That means millions of poor farming families are losing between 70 to 85 percent of the food and income they could be getting.
Reuben’s goal is to make sure many more farmers have access to high-quality bean seeds. He’s already developed a good variety, but he doesn’t have the capacity to produce enough seeds to meet the need across Kenya. So he and Linet have formed a sort of partnership. Reuben provides Linet with training and advice, and the high-yielding, disease-resistant bean variety he bred. In turn, Linet sells a portion of the beans she grows back to KARI. This year, Linet provided KARI with 1,200 kilograms of beans. That’s enough for Reuben to give away 2,400 half-kilogram samples to other curious farmers, who, like Linet, are looking for ways to improve their incomes and nutrition.
Reuben and Linet are doing more than boosting the supply of beans. They are also boosting awareness and demand in order to create a market. When thousands of farmers start asking for improved bean varieties, seed companies and stores take note. Reuben is currently in conversation with two private seed companies, which will be able to take his new variety and produce it on a mass scale. When that happens, families and communities throughout Kenya and beyond will be able to grow quality beans that improve their health and food security.
The last two years have been tumultuous for Linet. Back in her house in Kakamega, she points to the portraits lining her living room wall. In addition to her mother, three of her siblings have passed away—two due to violence after Kenya’s contested presidential election.
But the last two years have also been transformative. Linet used to labor in her field for six hours a day, six days a week. Now she hires other farmers—up to 10 at peak times of year—to help her with the weeding, harvesting, and other tasks. Her family is well-fed and well-provided for. And her two daughters are enrolled in school, where they take steps each day toward a more stable and secure future.
For Linet Wanzunzi and her family, the future holds prosperity, not hunger and poverty. And through her partnership with Reuben Otsyula, ripples of opportunity are slowly spreading out through her community. Now, Linet hosts a farmer field day of her own. One day in the near future, she will meet and motivate another unlikely entrepreneur.
Next: Seeds, Supplies, and Advice for Rural Farmers