Pastoralist’s adoption of modern farming pays dividend

Mr Abdikadir Sheikh Hassan, 65, with some of his cattle at his Masalani farm in Ijara, Garissa County, last month. Photo/JACOB OWITI  

By ANGELA OKETCH, aoketch@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• Unlike his peers who move about in search of pasture, Abdikadir Sheikh Hassan has put his livestock under zero grazing.

Abdikadir Sheikh Hassan was born in a pastoralist community but following in his ancestors’ footsteps was not easy.

“My father’s dream was that I become a pharmacist, he even went to the extent of paying fees at a college but I declined the offer,” he said.

Mr Hassan said that he grew up seeing his older brothers make money and admired their hard work and lifestyle.

“I did not like the aspect of going back to class when my age mates were making good money out of their livestock. I made up my mind not to go back to school and decided to venture into cattle keeping,” Mr Hassan told the Business Daily.

The resident of Masalani in Ijara, Garissa County, has been in the business for 30 years since and has no regrets.

“Every person aspires to have a comfortable life,” he added. Venturing into livestock keeping was difficult.

‘‘My father refused to give me part of his cattle as he did for my brothers. I decided to start a business that would give me money to buy the first animals. I started selling miraa to generate capital,” he said.

After two years, he said, he had raised Sh500,000 which he used buy cattle. He requested his father for space to build a shed for the animals.

“Having seen that I had interest in keeping animals, my father gave me a portion of his land on which I build a shelter for them,” he said. Today Mr Hassan is the envy of many in Garissa County. He has about 400 cows, 200 sheep and 100 goats.

The 65-year-old said that despite a poor education background, he does not regret dropping out of school.

“I am happy with myself, I have never regretted not studying the course my father wanted me to. I am a proud millionaire,” he said.

Mr Hassan, a father of 10, employs three herdsmen and sometimes gets help from his sons. He said that he rarely sells his animals. “I only do that when there is a big problem that I need to settle, like paying school fees, but I ensure I buy livestock to replace those that I sell,” he said.

Mr Hassan said that the highest amount of money he has received from selling livestock was Sh500, 000.

“ I used Sh250,000 to pay my children’s school fees and the remaining to replace the animals I had sold with smaller ones,” he said.