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Mr Vincent Otieno arranges timber at his Kisumu yard. Photo/Anita Chepkoech
By ANITA CHEPKOECH
When Patrick Siele lost his job as a banker, he did not imagine that trees would be his refuge from financial turmoil.
Mr Siele was not only sent home four months after
being employed, he was also denied severance pay in what he says were
unclear circumstances.
The business administration graduate was just
beginning to be financially stable and shouldering the responsibilities
of his young family, and news of his termination hit him hard.
He used the little money he had to ferry his
family and belongings to his Koitalel home in Bomet County, and once
home, Mr Siele had to find a new source of income to continue being the
breadwinner for his family.
He walked around the family land surveying the
trees he had planted in his childhood while searching for that brilliant
idea that would change his dire situation.
While admiring how big some of the trees had grown
in a short time, a business idea struck him — the trees could be an
immediate solution to his joblessness.
“I looked for a power saw immediately and brought down three mature cypress trees,” he says.
He cut each tree into four blocks, each worth
Sh15,000 and sold them to a local plywood company. He immediately
pocketed Sh180,000, which he used to pay school fees for his children
and the rest to set up a shop for his wife.
Mr Siele’s love for trees has continued to grow
since. He is currently tending two hectares of various tree species.
Eucalyptus tree are, however, many since they are early maturing and
have a ready market.
“Trees can save a situation. I call it unmonitored
investment,” he says adding that trees require negligible attention
after planting so long as they are watered and protected from predators.
Perhaps Mr Siele’s love for trees is only matched by that of Vincent Otieno, whose father was retrenched back in the 1990s.
The manager of the Sh4 million Charl-Yie General
Enterprises in Kisumu said the business began as an effort to help the
family earn a livelihood after his father lost his job.
It kicked off with Sh30,000 in capital, which was
used to buy trees. Four-year-old trees sold for Sh4,000 each would fetch
Mr Otieno’s father profits of up to Sh20,000.
The business quickly took off, with most buyers
being real estate investors and carpenters in Kisumu. The trees were
split into various sizes and shapes, depending on their intended use.
Having seen the potential, Mr Otieno and his father dedicated two hectares of their farm to trees.
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