1 sheep is N1m: Couple quit good jobs in US, come back home, become farmers
- James and his wife Beth Kahiga left their lucrative jobs in the US, where they worked at Oppenheimer & Company
- The duo came back to Kenya and established Carpri Dorper Farm Limited in Kasuku, Nyandarua county
- Carpri Dorper Farm, built from scratch, has over 150 animals and sells breeds that fetch up to KSh 100,000 (N1,080,313.59) each
James and his wife Beth Kahiga left behind the comforts of stable jobs in the United States of America (USA) to run a Dorper sheep farm in Kenya.
The duo worked at Oppenheimer & Company and gathered a lot of finance and data analytics knowledge.
James Kahiga and his wife Beth relocated to Kenya from the US. Photos: Capri Dorper Farm.Source: UGC
However, the couple embraced a simpler lifestyle, focusing on sustainable farming and community engagement back home.
“From working on Wallstreet at Oppenheimer & Company to becoming a sheep farmer in Kenya. Glad I did the jump. Passion before profit,” James posted on Facebook.
Couple then founded Carpri Dorper Farm Limited
The couple are the founders of Carpri Dorper Farm Limited in Kasuku, Nyandarua county.
Initially, they started the farm in 2019 with little farming skills, but they learned on the job over time after visiting large-scale farmers.
James disclosed that he imported the sheep from abroad for quality purposes. He insisted that quality was crucial in Dorper sheep farming.
He sourced the top-grade animals from two South African farmers, Mickey Philips and Albie Horn.
Managing Dorper sheep
Once imported, he acquired the necessary documentation by paying customs and veterinary clearance.
“The crucial information you need from the previous owner is deworming and vaccination,” he explained.
James cited inbreeding as the main challenge of Dorper sheep farming in Kenya. To solve this problem, he breeds top-grade animals with local ones.
“You can have a pure breed animal, which is very important but management is equally important as good record keeping, deworming and vaccinations. I think that is South Africa is ahead of us,” he said.
He feeds the sheep one to two kilogrammes of silage daily and other supplements such as sunflower.
Since he has over 150 Dorper sheep, James produces roughly seven tonnes of silage monthly.
Designing Carpri Farm
The farmer revealed that a sheep farm is designed at specific measurements to minimise disease spread and stress.
To learn more about this, he studied courses teaching about ruminants at Oklahoma University and Michigan University.
The two institutions suggested small ruminants need a space of 40 metres square for eating, 20 metres square for sleeping and 20 metres square for an outside paddock.
“One of the things we have discovered, the instances of disease are less. These animals are not stressed and do not get sick.
The couple has five paddocks, allowing the sheep to graze on a rotational basis. For electricity, they operate solar power to minimise costs.
Cost of Dorper ram
James imports Dorper rams from South Africa at an average of KSh 300,000, including transport costs.
He then uses the rams for breeding to produce high-quality offspring, which he sells at KSh 100,000 each, as reported by Bizna Kenya.
“Before you buy an animal from us, we need to sit with you. We need to show you how we have managed them. We need them to thrive for you and have a relationship with our customers,” he added.
More on people leaving abroad:
Lady became farmer abroad
Meanwhile, Fox Nigeria earlier reported that a Nigerian lady made a photo slide on TikTok to document her relocation abroad.
The lady said before leaving the country, she had to sell her business (shop) and let all her workers go. Abroad, she worked very hard as a farmer.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
