This archive report was first published on 5 June 2020.
Reitz Mureithi visited Patrick Bett's tree seedlings farm in Kuresoi Constituency, about an hour's drive from Molo, and was impressed by the sight of 250,000 seedlings of different varieties.
The farm, which spans half an acre, is a testament to Bett's passion for tree planting, a hobby he has been engaged in for the last 13 years.
Bett, 32, who holds a Diploma in Hotel Management, started planting trees after high school but it wasn't until he resigned from his job as a tour guide at the Lake Nakuru National Park in 2011 that he decided to expand the business.
With Sh30,000 from his savings, Bett purchased tree seedlings of various trees from the Kenya Forest Service offices in Londiani, Kericho County, and sold them at between Sh20 and Sh300 each.
He buys certified seeds from the Kenya Forest Research Training Institute (Kefri), a department of the Kenya Forest Service in Londiani, and raises them in nursery beds, where they take one month to germinate and sprout.
After a month, he pricks out the mature seedlings and pots them in bags before transferring them to blocks, where they are top-dressed with CAN fertiliser to help them grow faster and have a green foliage.
The seedlings are ready for market between four and seven months after potting, depending on the type of tree, and Bett earns at least Sh100,000 on a bad month from supplying them to county governments and farmers.
However, the business has its challenges, including thieves who crawl into his garden at night and make away with seedlings, and heavy rains that occasionally wash away the seedlings in the nursery or those that have been potted some days to the rainfall.
