Hamisi Rajabu Banju Case Study

NAME: Hamisi Rajabu Banju

COURSE: Agribusiness

CENTER: Mariakani

Born and raised in Misufini village, Mariakani ward, Kilifi County Banju had for a long time had a passion for Agriculture; after form four he engaged in a number of agricultural practices at home like planting vegetables and selling in the neighboring Mariakani Market.

As a young farmer with little knowledge, he faced quite a number of challenges, oftentimes losing kilos of vegetables due to pest infestation and other diseases. Eventually, his farm collapsed and he lost hope. He was so frustrated but started seeking ways he could acquire knowledge in farm management and operations. Thanks to social media and Google, he got news from the county government’s social media handles of the Go Blue project offering training on Agribusiness to the youth at Mariakani Vocational Training Center. 

He applied for the training and luckily got enrolled in the program. Agribusiness classes and practical sessions were the most amazing experiences for him; they were the solution to the problems that had really troubled his farm, and he never missed a class. The training design also covered life skills training, work readiness training, computer literacy, and entrepreneurship skills training, which Banju celebrated because his ambition to flourish in agribusiness required these extra skills. SIYB module was really insightful to him because he was able to acquire the knowledge and skills on how to start and improve his business efficiently.

After his fourth month of class training, was placed at one of the Demo farms in Kilifi as a farm attendant, which gave him an opportunity to center and engage knowledge learned in class. He learned more about production processes, crop protection, crop rotation, and marketing strategies. He is able to manage the farm technically with minimal challenges and, with his salary, he is able to support his siblings and put up his enterprise.

Banju is so inspired and driven by ambition, he joined the scouting club in Kilifi where he spearheads communal activities like tree planting, youth sensitization in agriculture, and clean-up exercise within the communities. He appreciates the facilitators for the knowledge impacted on him, his parents for the support, and CAPYEI and Go Blue project donors for giving an opportunity to the Coastal youths.