Kevin Ntabo, who was born and raised in Itibo village, Kisii County, always dreamt of living in the United States.
In 2016, he visited the US and the United Kingdom, in search of greener pastures. Five years later, armed with a degree in accounting, he permanently relocated to the US.
His first job attempt was to join the US military, but to his surprise, he did not qualify due to his weight.
“I weighed 120 kgs,” says the 35-year-old Mr Ntabo.
His weight and his family’s health history (his mother recently succumbed to diabetes), served as a wake-up call.
To lose weight, Mr Ntabo who says he does not believe in going to the gym, changed his diet.
Living in Washington DC, where fast food consumption is the norm, he thought of growing what he eats.
Two years ago, he ventured into farming. He grows African leafy vegetables such as black nightshade (managu), amaranth (terere or mchicha), cowpeas leaves (kunde), jute mallow (mrenda) and spider plant (saga).
Mr Ntabo is now an indigenous crop farmer in King County, one of Washington’s counties.
In addition to selling the surplus, he grows kale (sukuma wiki), spinach, pumpkin leaves, Kenyan beans, okra, potatoes, green peas, carrots, and maize, which he sells in different markets in the US. The farm is 100 acres.
“The indigenous land is allocated to minority groups—people who come together to grow crops without damaging the soil’s natural state,” he explains.
Mr Ntabo says he acquired the land through an organisation called Living Well Can. The land is provided for free by King County to promote food security and a healthy lifestyle through sustainable eating practices.
Kevin Ntabo's sister weeds vegetables on their farm in King County, Washington, USA on July 4, 2023.
Photo credit: Pool
Along with about 50 other farmers, Mr Ntabo is part of a group that received $100,000 (Sh12 million) to fund the vegetable project.
“We were also granted stipends and crop insurance,” he adds.
He has managed to woo a community of Kenyans living in the US, as well as native Americans, to be his customers.
However, he says he is the first consumer of his produce, reminiscing how, when he first started farming in 2022, he stored his produce at home because he had not yet found a market.
“I did not know where to find the Kenyan community since I was new. I harvested and stored the produce in my house, and for the next year, I did not buy groceries. Over time, I networked with people and introduced them to what I was growing," he says.
Mr Ntabo explains that the Living Well Can organisation operates a farmers’ market, similar to Kenya’s Muthurwa or Gikomba markets, where he takes his produce every Saturday.
Any remaining produce is bought by the charity organisation and distributed to schools and the less privileged.
Farming, for Mr Ntabo, is a part-time activity. He works overnight and heads to the farm at 6.30am.
“Being on the farm is therapeutic for me. It is fun watching the crops grow,” he says jovially.
What makes him proud is that his farm has helped play a dietary role in managing obesity.
Asked how he has succeeded in farming in a foreign country, Mr Ntabo credits his parents, whose main source of income was farming.
“I’m the last born in a family of 14 siblings, and growing up in such a large family comes with its own challenges, especially meeting basic needs like food, shelter, and clothing.
"However, my parents were peasant farmers who worked hard to ensure we all went to school,” he says, adding that every child was assigned a piece of land to till.
The success of his farming has seen him launch the Ntabo Foundation, which supports people battling lifestyle diseases.
“My weight now fluctuates between 71 to 73 kgs,” he says.
