Sam Maundu

Travel Enthusiast 🏖️

[Wenceslous Nyamupfukudza @wenceslous7]

STARTING A FARM...

When I started my farming journey, I thought it's all about putting seed in the ground or digging a few fish ponds or keeping a few animals and you are all set....
I used to post alot of picture about me producing watermelons or tomatoes and keeping chickens and all.. But my opinion about farming has drastically changed since I moved on to Kapiri Mposhi to be at the farm. It's not about the likes you get or people saying "Well done and congratulations "..
Real farming is alot more than that...

Being on the ground has actually dispelled alot of fantasies and illusions about farming I had.. It takes alot to be a successful farmer.. I have summed it up this way

1 Desire
2 Planning and research
3 Resource mobilisation
4 Acquisition
5 INFUSTRUCTURE AND CAPACITY BUILDING
6 commencement of production
7 Learnings
8 Profitability

Note that number 5 is in capital letters... For me after desire and planning, setting up the right infrustucture is the key to proper production. Let's look at the above points in details.

LET ME AT THIS POINT TELL YOU THIS, REAL FARMING IS NOT ON FACEBOOK... DONT LET THE LIKES FOOL YOU, IT TAKES A LOT MORE TO START AND RUN A SUCCESSFUL FARM MORE AS A BUSINESS.

Lets look at the steps I earlier pointed out

1. Desire...
Everything begins with a genuine desire. Whether to be a lawyer, a nurse a teacher, it's all about desire... Same applies... You have to desire to be a farmer....it is that desire that will open up other doors.

2. Planning and Research...
They say if you fail to plan, you planning to fail.. You will need to plan how you will ran your farm. Where you will get money for bush clearing, location of your farm, markets, products you want to sell, how you will get money for seeds and paying labour... Don't be cheated farming is very expensive.. Prepare well

3. Resource Mobilisation...
Please prepare some money. You will need it to purchase land, buy seeds and pay your workforce... A farm to my experience can take even 5 years to be profitable. You must ask yourself some very honest questions like were will money to ran the farm come from while you set up the farm to profitability. Key thing is avoid debts at all costs if you can.

4. Acquisition...
Please acquire good farm land that is accessible to markets.. Make sure all papers are in order and process title as soon as possible. Under Acquisition I will also add acquire honest with basic qualifications farm labour. Your success will heavily hinge on the work force you have... This is a very important point

5. INFRASTRUCTURE AND CAPACITY BUILDING...
This is the most important of all! You need proper structure on your farm to be successful. See I had a shock of my life. I listened from stories and started producing tomatoes using a stream with no borehole. 3 months later stream dried up. I lost 5,000 hybrid plants which were bought at cost and much was invested in fertilisation and spraying not forgetting labour cost. See I was supposed to start with a borehole then make sure all tools are in place. Also fuel was increased from $1 to $1.9 petrol engine pump.. If I had planned for a solar pump, this increase would not have driven me crazy... I was supposed to build my capacity bit by bit... Additionally, If you plan to keep village chickens, don't rush, please prepare adequately... Build a chicken run, get an incubator and find a cheap source of feed.

[Peché Africa 🇿🇦 @pmcafrica]

Great team work Mabena 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
@pmcafrica

[Juliette Karitanyi @JujuLaBelle]

It's @TrevorNoah inspiring SA from what @RwandaGov has done with #VisitRwanda through @RDBrwanda to boost SA tourism.
More reasons to bring him for #KwitaIzina2024 😍 Hope to come back to this tweet next year when he'll be here.
#RwandaWorks indeed🇷🇼❤️

[Oliver Mathenge @OliverMathenge]

US Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman on why American investors should invest in the East African country.

[Tim Kipchumba @TimKipchumba]

For those interested in Fully -Funded Scholarship in Melbourne, Australia.

Melbourne Research Scholarship

350 scholarships at Melbourne University, Australia 🇦🇺 (Masters & PhD)

Benefits:
✅ Tuition free
✅ Stipends: $32,400
✅ Relocation allowance: $2,000

Official Scholarship Link

https://t.co/Lw9YhGXZCl

📍Deadline: October 31, 2023

Info Courtesy: Amb Alfred Sergent

Curated by Jeff Kosgei

[Tim Kipchumba @TimKipchumba]

If you know someone who is interested in fully funded scholarships in USA 🇺🇸

Here are Universities in USA 🇺🇸 that are waiving application fees and offering full funding/ scholarship opportunities.

📌Northwestern Oklahoma State University - (No application fee, scholarship available): https://t.co/jzaczod4An

📌University of Southern Maine: https://t.co/JARsi1mFt6

📌Wayne State University - (For Graduate the application is waived, for Bsc use the code "WSU2024): https://t.co/3zeEeB0ghj (graduate GTA available)

📌Missouri University of Science & Technology: https://t.co/ztMjMFEKlR

📌University of Dayton - (All programs are waived): https://t.co/XYE4QDEfx6

📌Northeastern University, College of Engineering - https://t.co/7iHt67ROI3 (Engineering course free application fee) but all PhD programs get funding.

📌Michigan Tech University - charges only a processing fee of $10. (PhD funding is available): https://t.co/oQGi9m0xV5

📌Notre Dame University - (they have an application fee but 100% funding)
All the admitted Masters and PhD students get full funding. No tuition fee is attached.

NB: 70% of Bachelor's students get a scholarship: https://t.co/6NfpmbUwOS

📌University of Colorado Boulder - (No application fee for all PhD programs): https://t.co/RKEIaN0Yls

📌West Virginia Tech University - (Automatically considered for scholarship. no app fee): https://t.co/pw8kIevX5Q

📌University of Cornell - (Application fee can be requested during application) Most Masters and PhD are funded: https://t.co/lx3R45cDv5

📌Michigan University Dearborn.
(No application for BSc/Undergraduate, Automatic Scholarship consideration)
https://t.co/J4pTAxzoPa

📌University of St. Thomas, Minnesota - (No Application FEE, All undergraduates are considered for scholarship): https://t.co/uHTLKi2CCS

📌Denison University - (No app fee): https://t.co/YNYAbcszsn

📌University of Lynchburg: https://t.co/ko2gYDEFab

📌New Mexico State University - (No app fee for chemistry and biochemistry Masters and PhD. Automatic funding once admitted): https://t.co/nzBlk4GEas

📌University of South Carolina - (This school gives funding. No application fee for Masters): https://t.co/9X990MZWvz

🔴Share with your networks.

#itesait
Curation by Jeffrey Kosgei

[Son of the Soil @visualsbykoech]

I am starting a thread of the art galleries as promised earlier. Visited the first one on the list and here are the details.

Name: Ardhi Gallery
Location:Ole Sangale Link Road,(https://t.co/IgKkVgLVRZ)
Current Exhibition: Esho Funi, A recycled art exhibition

[Julians Amboko @AmbokoJH]

Kenya's Draft Medium-term Debt Strategy for the period 2024/25 - 2026/27 is out & proposes a raft of major tax changes.

Kenyans have until Oct 6th, 2023 to submit comments on the proposals from Treasury.

Here's a 🧵on some key issues emerging from this strategy:

[Wa Kanuthu @Kaluluu]

This is how we did a 780km roundtrip journey from Thika to Ololokwe and back. [Thread]

A beautful thing I'd pay to do it again. THE GROUP had @KMboya_ @etooo254 @OptaKin and 4 others

[The Figen @TheFigen_]

Very cool! 👏👏

Music is a universal language!

[Telegraph Travel @TelegraphTravel]

Change is needed to tackle overcrowding in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, but higher fees will simply keep families and mid-range tourists away https://t.co/VwJRTThz4S

[Deji Faremi @deejayfaremi]

This video just kept getting better

[Poonam Soni @CodeByPoonam]

Remote work is the future.

But it's challenging to find Remote Jobs online.

Here're 10 websites that Pays USD Salaries for Remote Jobs:

[🔖 Bookmark for later]

[MxM @Mukurima]

Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o teaches at UC Irvine in Southern California. He is very sharp, articulate, and his sense of humor is out of this world. Spent time with him on the 13th, and here are my 13 takeaways.

1. He pointed out remarkable attributes of Professor Micere Mugo, portraying her as a combination of beauty, intelligence, and eloquence. She truly encompassed a well-rounded persona. And when she stood on stage to dramatize the play “Trial of Dedan Kimathi,” she was simply marvelous.

2. He laughed at "colonialism embedded in Patriarchy. He explained, for example, how some (married) women hide their given names and adopt foreign names along with their husband's surname. For instance, Eunice W. Mwangi might opt to be known only as Eunice (the colonial name) or Mwangi (the husband's name with patriarchal connotations) and hide Waitherero (W). This act, in a way, reflects a submission to the husband's authority and the traditional role he envisions for women. “Nikiii marakunîkîra rîtwa ithaka” he wondered.

3. He expressed the notion that a society is as great as the prevailing music and religion. Sadly, today’s church is no longer interested in welfare of the masses like “Kanitha wa Karing’a” of yesteryears. We reminisced on good ol’ music, listening to Kamaru and also explored Makibi James' music.

4. He emphasized the universal truth that no matter the extent of one's education, there will always be gaps in knowledge. Even if you hold ten degrees, encountering a broken lock would require seeking help from someone who possesses the necessary skills, often without any formal degrees.

5. His face lit up remembering Professor Micere Mugo. He highlighted her quick thinking, recounting how she declined an offer of about 30 acres of land from Moi. This created an ideological schism between her and her brother in law.

6. He touched on the concept he referred to as "normalizing the abnormality." It's that situation where what is weird in normal circumstances is mainstreamed and considered “woke.” For example, someone transitions from their rural roots (Assume Kîamûtûgû) to Nairobi, secures a job, and as soon as
they don a suit and polish their English, they disconnect from their mother tongue and soon start thinking their grandparents are less knowledgeable because they don’t speak that kind of English. Another example is where less qualified or tainted people are given the mandate to lead, which is actually an abnormality. But we have normalized it.

7. He wondered how in the name of Kaimosi I got the name “Mukurima” in a society that glorifies foreign names. îî weee

8. The professor got some dance moves. I told him we have to go head to head soon. He laughed. I laughed. Man, I have to represent the Njaangai warriors who could move like contortionists.

9. He expressed his admiration for Carey Baraka's recent article in The Guardian. He wants readers, especially men, to prioritize their health and undergo regular check-ups: He appreciated how the article shed light on his prostate cancer, a hidden disease affecting many African men and misattributed to supernatural causes by society. “nîararogiro” people say, yet it’s prostrate cancer doing a number on the body.

10. The professor maintains a stance of not harboring personal hatred or disdain for anyone, including figures like Moi. His strong aversion is directed towards ideologies that dehumanize individuals.

Isitoshe,

12. From Makibi’s lyrics in the song “Ngûhe Kîrîra,” Mîciî nî ndogo..

13. We both share a love for “kamûkimo ka minji”.

May the day break.

[§aruni @GSaruni]

SHORT THREAD...

WHEN TO BUY TYRES. A GUIDE

Most Drivers are unaware of the proper time to buy tyres. While buying tyres is easy, buying the right set which meets the requirements of your car is something which many people fail at

Often people buy brands rather than needs

[Max Juma @MaxJumaEsq]

Yesterday, I got a random call from someone on Twitter who called me for help. He claimed to have been arrested for failing to pay Child Support. The Court had issued a Decree ordering him to pay X shillings monthly after he absconded from appearing in court

THREAD!
...

[Lets Drift Community @lets_drift]

From our founder - @iamalexkamau

“I'm proud to be part of a generation redefining Kenya's travel industry. We designed Lets Drift to bring adventure to everyone.

5 years later, I'm excited to push limits and inspire travel. I'm grateful to the Nomad team for trusting me to be the editor of one of Africa's top travel publications, solidifying my passion in an industry that I entered as a stranger but has now become synonymous with my persona.”

Grab a copy of Nomad Magazine and be inspired by amazing adventure stories for your next expedition.

Read online 👉 https://t.co/ssNyZ41kvZ

[Abhishek @HeyAbhishek]

Stanford University is giving FREE online courses to people.

No Payments Required.

Here are 8 FREE courses to master new skills in 2023:

[AXYS INVESTMENT BANK (AIB) @AIB_AXYSAfrica]

The Central Bank of Kenya will introduce the DhowCSD investment platform for Treasury Bonds and Bills tomorrow (1st August 2023).

Investors can open CDS accounts & invest in T. Bills and Bonds ONLINE.

Here are 7⃣ facts about the DhowCSD:

📌SAVE THIS TWEET

A THREAD (7/7)

[MaggieTheTherapist @MaggietheMezzo]

AA Meetings in Kenya