Stephen is the Farm Produce Manager at Doyle Farm. It is thanks to his in depth knowledge and vast experience that we have healthy and abundant crops all year round and are largely self sufficient. We have animals for food production (eggs and milk) and vast fertile gardens to grow fruit and vegetables.
His role is important, varied and central to the wellbeing of our children. Alongside his team, he helps sustain healthy bodies by growing food to feed the children on our farm and those in our Outreach Program. He helps nurture healthy minds by creating an opportunity for our children to engage with the production process – an act which allows them to experience peace, pride, satisfaction and joy. He also works to create enough harvest to generate funds for the farm byselling excess to the community around the farm.
Let us introduce you…
How long have you been with Rafiki Mwema?
I have been with Rafiki Mwema since January 2017.
What most interested you in working with Rafiki Mwema as Farm Produce Manager?
My extensive experience in farming prompted me to join the Rafiki Mwema farm department. I could see an opportunity to provide the institution with my expertise on farming practices and food production purposes.
At the beginning, I did not know the main objectives of the institution. But later I understood what Rafiki Mwema was for – helping the vulnerable children in therapeutic activities. This increased my passion in farm activities, a job I was assigned to perform to provide food production to the needy children.
Tell us a little bit about your job and what it involves.
The main objective of my job as Farm Produce Manager is to produce food stuffs required to feed the children and any surplus sold to the community around the farm. We produce kale, beans, potatoes, tomatoes and a variety of other vegetables and fruits.
We use both the rainwater and irrigation-drip system. The four acre is using drip irrigation water sourced from the borehole.
Before we start our activities we do the planning for the entire year. We have six permanent farm staff and we do teamwork because the work we do is 100 % physical.
Whenever we need farm inputs and casual labourers we liaise with the General Manager. We keep records of our expenditures and yields and appraise our work to determine whether we have achieved our goals.
Apart from crop growing, our job extends to livestock and poultry. We keep a record of the dairy produce, milk, and eggs from the chickens.
What is your favorite thing about being a part of the Rafiki team?
Communication. There are no barriers of communication and it flows from top to bottom. The team appreciate work well done and prompt action is taken when some work is to be corrected. Every member of the Rafiki family is appreciated by the other team members. The bond between the children, staff and the rest of members of the team at the apex is fantastic.
To discover more of our awesome team, visit us HERE. And for regular updates from Doyle Farm make sure you’re following us on Facebook.
