07/07/2025
Part 3: Sukuma and Side Hustles
Let me confess something.
Before I started horticulture, I thought sukuma wiki just grows itself. You dig, you plant, you water, you harvest. Simple, right?
Wrong.
My journey into farming started the way all big mistakes start: on WhatsApp. Someone forwarded a story about a university graduate making 200K per month from selling managu. I didnât even finish reading. I just texted my cousin Brian and said:
> âTafuta ka-kashamba ka cheap, na tupande vitu za salad.â
Brian, a loyal hustler with zero chill, replied in 8 minutes:
âTuko na ka-plot ya mzee hapa kanduyi. Haijalimwa. Uneza tumia tu.â
Boom. Just like that, I became a part-time cyber girl, part-time vegetable boss lady.
With 2,000 bob from my dress sales, I bought seedsâsukuma, spinach, managuâand a few gardening tools. I still remember the look Mum gave me when I walked into the compound carrying a jembe.
> âNa sasa? Youâve joined mjengo?â
> âNo Mum. Iâm now into agribusiness,â I said, chest out like I had shares in Bidco.
We cleared the land with Brian. Correction: Brian cleared the land, I mostly took selfies with the jembe. But I was there in spirit. We planted, watered, and waited.
By the third week, green life started popping up. My sukuma babies were growing. I was checking them daily, like a nursery school teacher taking attendance.
Then one day I got home from work and found tragedy.
Chickens.
Our neighborâs chickens had trespassed like drunk teenagers and feasted on my seedlings like it was KFC.
I saw feathers, dug-up roots, and three hens casually strolling like they had paid rent. I wanted to cry. Or pluck them and sell to Mama Mboga.
Brian helped me replant. I added a small fence using old mosquito netting and maize stalks. And this time, I became strict. I watered them in the morning before work, checked for pests in the evening, and even whispered motivational quotes to my sukuma.
> âYou are not just vegetables, you are destiny. Grow, my darlings.â
Eventually, they grew strong and healthy. And thenâharvest time.
My first customer was our neighborâs house help, Doreen. She bought a bunch for 30 bob and even said, âHii ni fresh sana kuliko soko.â I wanted to frame that comment.
I started selling to a few mama mbogas nearby, then to a kibanda guy who supplied sukuma to local schools. Soon, I was delivering small bundles every three days and making 500â800 bob per week. Not crazy money, but passive income ni income all the same.
Then my cyber boss said the most painful thing of 2021:
âWeâre closing down. The shop isnât making profit.â
Just like that, my 5K salary was gone.
But this time, I didnât panic. Why?
Because I had options.
I had my bodycon customers. I had sukuma customers. I even had one lady who bought spinach and a dress in the same transaction. Lifestyle meets nutrition.
So I took a deep breath and told myself:
> "Girl, maybe this is your sign. To stop thinking small. To focus on these hustles fully. To level up."
I didnât know how. I didnât have a business plan. But I had faith, bundles, and a kiondo full of hope.
What I didnât expect was that my next big move would nearly destroy all my savingsâthanks to one very smooth-talking, cologne-wearing boy named Kevin.