A mushroom farmer in Kakamega. Many people are coming to appreciate the benefits of farming and consuming the fungi. PHOTO | ISAAC WALE
What you need to know:
Anne Kimathi farms and sells the fungi and trains others on the venture.
When Anne Kimathi talks about mushrooms, her eyes light up.
So passionate is she about mushrooms that she has made it her life mission to enlighten people about the fungi’s benefits, which recent research shows include antibiotic properties, antitumor properties, anti-inflammatory characteristics, immune system stimulation, lowering cholestrol and being a rich source of Vitamin D.
“They are not only nutritional but also remedy to a number of diseases including fibroids, high blood pressure, arthritis, migraines and sinuses,” Ms Kimathi says.
She operates a business, Delight Mushrooms, where she farms, sells mushrooms and trains farmers on growing the fungi.
Until recently though, the venture was alien to the former hotelier who has worked for Silver Springs Hotel in Nairobi and the Dormans and Java coffee shops as a barista and training manager.
She says she first heard about mushroom farming in church during a forum on youth empowerment projects by the government and was fascinated by the concept.
“This was in 2011 when I was doing some soul searching about the path my career would follow to retirement,” says Ms Kimathi who is in her early 30s.
She pulled together like-minded youths into a group to invest in the venture, which she had taken time to research on. However, even before the project could take off, the other group members pulled out leaving her to go it alone in 2012.
“My starting capital was Sh50,000 which I spent on input supplies including mushroom seeds (spawns) and ingredients for the substrate,” she says.
Her company now buys mushrooms from farmers, which she supplies on wholesale to hotels and retail outlets, including supermarkets.
Her shop located at Imenti House in Nairobi mainly stocks button and oyster species of mushrooms. Clients within the central business district get free deliveries to their offices.
She says the biggest challenge has so far been low consumption of mushrooms among Kenyans, most of who hold myth that the fungi are either poisonous or are a preserve for Westerners.
The business, she says, has allowed her to interact with experts and farmers hence expanding her knowledge base.
In the past one month, she has registered more than 3,000 farmers to her database and is involved in research work about health benefits of Reishi mushrooms together with scientist from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
Every weekend, in collaboration with other young people, she holds training sessions about mushroom farming at her Dagoretti farm where participants pay a fee.
What drives profits in her business, however, are supplies of the product in large quantities to hotels.
Social media, she says, has helped her grow her client base as well as open her eyes to opportunities in the businesses that are potential revenue earners.
“I came up with a recipe for preparing mushrooms after realising a number of people kept asking about how it is cooked,” says Ms Kimathi who is in the process of compiling a book that will include mushroom recipes.
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