Like millions of other urban dwellers growing up in big cities like Nairobi, John knows the limitations of space all too well. But he also knows how much can be achieved with very little. In their small plot of land on the outskirts of Nairobi, his parents practiced urban farming – keeping poultry, dairy and pigs.
“Being a farmer is like becoming a famous musician - you work hard, but no one knows how hard you truly worked to make it, except yourself.”
Like millions of other urban dwellers growing up in big cities like Nairobi, John knows the limitations of space all too well. But he also knows how much can be achieved with very little. In their small plot of land on the outskirts of Nairobi, his parents practiced urban farming – keeping poultry, dairy and pigs.
“Being a farmer is like becoming a famous musician - you work hard, but no one knows how hard you truly worked to make it, except yourself.”
John’s love and passion for agriculture grew gradually as he visited many parts of Kenya while working for a government organisation. He learnt about the overwhelming situation of low productivity among farmers and their challenges contributing profitably to the value chains.
“As part of work I began organising meetups between software developers based in Nairobi and agriculture practitioners brought from all over Kenya to discuss and share challenges in agricultural value chains and creative solutions can be created.”
These forums brought out many underlying challenges of low information technology adoption levels among agriculture practitioners. John supported and mentored many ICT4ag entrepreneurs but continued to see several underlying root causes of challenges with their business models and sustainability.
“It is based on these root causes that I see an need for disruptive innovation in the agriculture space that upsets the disturbing aspects of the status quo.”
Position | ICT for Agriculture and business model innovation entrepreneur, technologist, strategist, start-up advisor, m4d researcher, farmer and blogger. |
Country | Kenya |
Education | Bsc in Computer Science, Masters in Business Administration PhD in information systems |
Mentee |
His passion for a solution for youth engagement in agriculture has led him to explore computer gaming as an avenue for inspiring more youth in agricultural entrepreneurship as part of his PhD studies. John is building a smartphone app that gameifies poultry value chains in Kenya.
“Although I was not a heavy video games player as a kid, I was always easily immersed in playing video games, learnt from them as I fought the addiction.”
“I’m keen to see how mobile technology can be used in growing East Africa's competitiveness in the knowledge economy.”
John he has a desire to see younger people excel in ICT for agriculture initiatives. He joined the YPARD mentoring program to have a platform for passing on knowledge and wisdom acquired through practical experience.
“Making the decision to engage in agriculture is an affirmative decision for our culture, our environment and ourselves. Shy not from taking farming as your career.”
Learn more about John by reading his blog here.