More than 230 kilometres from the bustling city noise lies a hidden gem. Daisy Chalet is a home-away-from-home, a sprawling 50-acre land in the heartlands of Rumuruti, the hinterlands of Laikipia County.
Rumuruti, a corruption of the word ‘remote route’, monikered during the colonial years, has come a long way. It is the middle child now able to stand up to its older brothers.
If Rumuruti is Laikipia’s idea of luxurious escapades, then Daisy Chalet is Rumuruti’s well-tucked and hidden gem in plain sight.
Francis Gitau, 66, the proprietor knows all about secret treasures. A chalet, by the way, is the French word for a small home.
“It was my wife’s dream to have a rural home. When we built the Daisy Chalet, we realised that we are only there maybe once or twice a month. We thought why have a place that sits idle for a whole month? So, we decided to monetise it and voila, now we are here.”
Being an architect, Francis designed the chalet himself. He integrated the home with farming to make it profitable.
“I am always against having a home in the rural areas knowing very well you will not use it. For me, it has to generate income while I am away besides giving me a home to go to when I need space from the madness that is Nairobi.”
Daisy Chalet owner Francis Mureithi at the expansive farm. FILE PHOTO | POOL
Daisy Chalet is a weekender’s idea of escape, and with little to no decent accommodation in Rumuruti, there would be people who will book it for a week, especially Israeli farmers.
“Weekends are almost always booked.”
Daisy Wholesome, the company that lends its name to the chalet, is, however, purely an agricultural business. Francis knew he was onto something when he made Sh1 million from the farm selling tomatoes.
“It is my wife who pushed me to go into farming, and that weekend we sold Sh1 million worth of tomatoes.”
A light switch flicked. Knowingly or not, a man chooses a home because of who he is. And deep down, Francis could not escape that tingly little voice that whispers your true essence. The seeds had been planted.
Good money
“I realised if we plant three or four acres, we would make Sh4 million. If it is properly managed, there could be good money in farming.”
Follow the money, he did, setting up systems and deliberately working with young people and encouraging them to think about farming as a cool business.
“I put 12 acres under irrigation and learned the hard way that tomatoes are very sensitive.”
The yield was low. Life handed him rotten tomatoes so he moved to onions which he says are much easier to maintain and store while also being more robust than tomatoes.
Now his onions are making him a tidy sum and the farm is able to maintain itself.
On average, the farm employs between 24 and 30 personnel weekly, while having three full-time on-the-hour employees: a trained chef called Abasalom, Gladys the house manager, and a few people who take care of the compound and security.
Onions on the expansive 50-acre farm owned by Francis Mureithi. Guests at Daisy Chalet eat fresh food from the farm. FILE PHOTO | POOL
Onions, capsicum, kale, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, and maize are all grown on the farm. The chalet also owns a 30-acre natural forest where goats and sheep are reared, feeding off the natural herbs and shrubs.
Paul Chege, who is in charge of the farm says that it produces up to 360 tonnes of Malbec F1-type onions in a season. There are up to three seasons in a year, each about 108 days, or a little over three months, and some change.
Diversification
At the farm, 20 acres are dedicated to onion farming at any one time, with each acre yielding about 18 tonnes. With a market price of Sh30 per kilo gramme of onions, and the 20-acre farm yielding 360,000 kilogrammes of onions, the numbers can be dizzying—in a season, they could make slightly over Sh10 million—and that’s just for onions, and that’s when the market is in a low season.
“Sometimes, we have sold onions for as high as Sh120 per kilo,” Paul adds. Do the math.
The farm has now put up another 20 acres to grow fodder and twigs to feed their lambs. Laikipia County is after all, hallowed for its livestock.
“While onions and tomatoes prices fluctuate, the meat never fluctuates. Especially lamb meat, it is the easiest and most profitable livestock one can keep.”
Future plans
Does Francis have a bigger plan for the chalet?
“If the business appears that there is a market for it, I would like to add more chalets,” says Francis. “We want to have more than one family staying over, who get their food straight from the farm. Choose your goat, or chicken and watch it being slaughtered to sate your appetite.”
He would also like to harness business executives in a work-away culture by providing conference facilities. “In fact, I have already designed it, I am just waiting for the right time to implement the new project.”
The apiary, he says, is his favourite part of the farm. “I have deliberately preserved it the way it was when I acquired the farm.”
The father of three also tips his hat to his daughter for pushing him to invest more in the chalet.
“There are guests from Europe who will be coming here on February 24 up to March 1 and their interest is just to spend time on the farm, and eat from the farm before going back home.”
The farm, he adds, is empowering the cosmopolitan community behind them with employment opportunities, local training, and providing water for their livestock.
Challenges
But the business is not without its challenges. “When you have a home and a farm, where the farm is supplementing the home and a market that is very volatile, things change pretty quickly. Last year we were selling the onions at Sh78 per kilo against a production cost of Sh10 per kilo. Now, with the sun refusing to budge, we are selling the at Sh30 per kilo.”
An aerial view of the 50-acre land where Francis Mureithi's Daisy Chalet sits in Rumuruti, Laikipia County. FILE PHOTO | POOL
The chalet, he says, could also use more visitors over the week, as it is usually ever booked over the weekend.
If he was to improve the farm, he says, he would spruce it up with traditional culture.
“There are a lot of Samburus and Turkanas here and we want to show off this culture. I want to build some traditional homestead in the chalet as an extra incentive and even have bonfires there. It’s my way of maintaining the culture, not just by promoting it, but by paying homage.”
