MH Reporter
Kate Wambugu is a millionaire – and she is not apologetic about it.
It is not every day that you get someone openly declare that they are millionaires.
Kate is running Wambugu Apples in Laikipia county – a land many believed was only suitable for livestock farming.
“My father discovered this seedling while taking a walk in the Aberdare forest. He grafted the seedling with other common apples and the result was magnificent,” says Kate.
The apples are believed to have been carried to the forest by Mau Mau fighters who would hide in the forest as the battled the white man.
After the discovery the government of Kenya was astounded – and sought to carry tests on the fruit.
“Officials from the Agriculture Ministry picked its leaves, seeds and tree, and carried out tests. They were shocked that this special apple could do well in Kenya, in Africa,” she says.
The officials named it Wambugu Apples, in honor of her dad.
“Agriculture means feeding people. The whole world needs to eat. Why then are farmers considered poor,” wonders Kate.
“Our work is to feed the world,” she says.
Kate is making the impossible possible.
“This is what I saw my father doing. Before my father started planting apples, life was very difficult. We had no food to eat,” she said.
“We sell the apples to other Kenyans. The apple can do well anywhere,”.
“The seedlings are made from grafting.
“A seedling takes nine months to mature and yield fruits, meaning that by the end of nine months, your trees should have fruits.”
“The apples yield fruits yearly, and every tree yields unto 200 fruits.
A kilogram of apples goes for Sh300, and a kilo is seven fruits.
“I am a millionaire just planting and selling fruits.,” she says.
“According to Kate, all one needs are land, constant supply of water, and fertilizer.
“What you get from the apples you plant depends on what you feed the apples. The weather here people think that apples cannot do well,” she says.
Kate also sells grafted seedlings which cost Sh1000 per tree.
The trees live for 80 years fruiting.
“It is not wrong to enjoy money. That is why I am recruiting more people,” she says.