Samuel Kimani spent 17 years teaching Kiswahili and History at Kapsara Secondary School in Trans Nzoia County before making a decision that most of his colleagues thought was reckless.
Twelve years ago, he resigned from teaching and put everything into pig farming, a venture he started with two sows and roughly KSh 150,000 in capital.
Farming Empire
Today, his Spring Farm in Matunda sits on two acres and houses more than 300 pigs across three large sties, each divided into eight units.
He slaughters between 30 and 50 pigs every month, generating an estimated monthly turnover of KSh 450,000 to KSh 750,000, which works out to approximately KSh 25,000 per day.
Kimani bought his first two breeding sows at KSh 5,000 each. As the herd grew, so did the costs, and commercial feeds quickly became one of his biggest expenses.
Rather than absorb the losses, he developed his own feed formula using maize, pellets, sweet-potato silage and vegetables, saving KSh 50 on every 70kg bag compared to the market price of KSh 2,800.
Resort Closes the Loop from Farm to Table
Two workers manage the daily operations. Their routine begins at 6 am with cleaning the pigsties, followed by feeding sessions at 9 am and 3 pm.
Gilts are sold at between KSh 25,000 and KSh 35,000, giving Kimani a reliable income stream alongside monthly slaughter proceeds.
Perhaps the boldest move in his journey was building Springfarm Resort in Matunda, an establishment that draws its pork supply directly from his own farm.
The ecosystem creates a vertically integrated operation that gives him control over both production and sale. It is the kind of system that most small-scale farmers rarely manage to build.
Struggles With Pig Farming
Kimani is candid about the difficulties. The cost of feed ingredients, particularly cereals and protein sources, remains high, and his current two-acre site is already at capacity.
Within the next five years, he plans to relocate the farm to a larger piece of land to allow for expansion.
None of that has shaken his conviction. He has said he harbours no regrets over leaving the classroom and expects to remain in pig farming for the rest of his working life.
What began with two animals and a belief that something better was possible has grown into a business that employs workers, feeds a hotel and generates steady daily income in rural Trans Nzoia.
