The rolling plains and lush tropical shrubs that are a common feature after branching off the Nairobi-Mombasa highway at Emali give way to a gentle slope in the descent into Loitokitok.

The farm at Kimana has a shiny gate and is now the talk of Kajiado County because of its sheer size.

At the gate, visitors must dip their shoes in a footbath. Modernity here meets the wild in this countryside.

A few metres into the farm, we are met by rows upon rows of long brick and mabati structures divided into cubicles that each hold 15 pigs.
 
The 100-acre Maiyana Farm is the property of Francis Kimaru, who works and lives in the US.

It is located approximately 5km off Kimana market and about 10km before Loitoktok town. The gated farm is not just about pigs. Bananas, onions 35,000 chickens under cage system all thrive here.

Miriam Wangui, a business administration graduate from Egerton University, who works at the farm. She says they have more than 1,000 pigs.

Kimaru has been running a homecare business in US since 2009 with over 800 employees that provide medical services to the elderly in the comfort of their homes. So why farm back home?

"When I look at the three basic human needs --food, clothing and shelter, food sticks out. I've lived in US for over 20 years and out here, it is the cheapest because of overproduction, which is completely the opposite of Kenya, something that I believe we can change," he said in an email interview.

Pigs were his animals of choice because pork is a popular meat.

"It is a rich source of high-quality protein, as well as various vitamins and minerals yet only 5 per cent of Kenyans consume it compared to the rest of the world, that’s a very low percentage. I decided to invest in piggery in large scale with hope that my size of production will one day help in lowering the prices of pork meat in Kenya," said Kimaru, who visits the farm twice a year to check how the venture is faring on.

He also intends to showcase modern pig farming practices that he hopes will prove to many that pigs are very clean and smart animals when kept in the right environment.

Hurt mother

"In modern farming, pigs are fed with real processed feeds just like chicken, not restaurant waste the way most people do or let them roam free in the sewers like the case of Dandora," says Kimaru, who adds he spent about Sh200 million to set up the farm, money he raised from his business.

The farm mainly rears Landrace and Large white pig breeds whose pork it supplies Farmers Choice Ltd, selling at least 20 pigs every week at the age of six months when they are between 60 to 75kg.

David Athula, the manager in-charge of the pigs, notes that contrary to what is always assumed, proper sanitation is as fundamental in pig rearing just as their housing.

There are about 14 halls dedicated to pig rearing on the farm, with different houses assigned for different group of pigs --according to their ages.

"We have halls reserved for expectant hogs, lactating pigs, newly weaned piglets and pigs ready for the market. This is so because the animals have different food requirements," Athula explains.

According to the farm manager, running a commercial pig farm calls for strict attention. "I check every pig pen thrice a day; in the morning, noon and in the evening to take note of any signs of diseases among the animals."

And each pen is meant for pigs from the same sow. At the entrance of every cubicle hangs a black wooden board that bears important information about the pigs such as their date of birth, their number at birth, their mother’s name, if they have been treated of any disease and the amount of feed they should be given.

"Sows with about one week to delivering are placed in their own rooms, which have charcoal stoves to provide warmth to the piglets after they are delivered. Three-day-old piglets get their teeth removed after which we inject them with 2ml of iron," Athula noted.

Piglets' teeth are removed so that they do not hurt their mother while suckling. "But as they grow their teeth will also grow. At 35 days they are old enough to survive on their own, so they are separated from their mother," he observed of the project that cost Sh87 million of his initial capital to put up.

Maiyana Farm has also contracted a vet who visits every week.

The farm now plans to go into value addition as it foresees that they will have more hogs to sell than is demanded. They are also looking beyond Farmers Choice for market.

With the cost of raising a pig being about Sh12,500 and a mature pig going for as high as Sh18,500, the farm makes a tidy sum.

Manure from the animal section is used on the vegetable farm, which enriches the produce and cuts costs.

"We are raising some bacteria known as the EM1 to quicken the decomposition of the pig droppings. It also breaks the bad smell of the droppings," says Joseph Kimaru, the assistant administrator.

While all has gone well since they established the farm, it is not an easy task for Kimaru running it from the US.

"Like most diaspora people, I started investing in 2012 by hiring my family members but it didn’t take long before I found out that was a huge mistake because some could not be honest. I choose to hire professionals last February and went big," says Kimaru, noting that the best advice he can give to Kenyans in diaspora is to invest back home and create jobs.

He has made it mandatory that all invoices are cleared by bankers cheque and payment made to the farm to curb any fraud.

He also ensures there are two signatories to every cheque to raise the accountability bar.

The farm has installed 80 photo-voltaic panels whose 22 volts are sufficient to run all the electricity requirements of the venture. They went the solar way to cut energy costs and ensure reliability.

"We have also embarked on processing feeds for our pigs and birds majorly to cut costs. But it also helps us to monitor the quality we offer to our animals," said Wangui.

Felix Opinya, a livestock researcher at Egerton University, advises farmers to vaccinate pigs so that they remain disease resistant.

Opinya adds that farmers should limit the number of visitors to their pigsties.

"Visitors should disinfect their shoes while vehicles run through a disinfectant when visiting the farm. Where possible, visitors, farm workers can be made to put on lab coats and gumboots obtained from the farms."

Such initiatives, he says, help curb the spread of diseases in the farm.

Is Kimaru confident of a return on the massive investment?

"Farming has huge rapid returns as opposed to building apartment structures that will take over 20 years for one to realise the returns with very few job opportunities for Kenyans," says Kimaru, who sells eggs to bakeries and hotels.