In Rural Kenya, Winfred Builds Better Business from Maize Shelling

Growing up in the quiet, rural community of Ebulali Village, Kakamega County in Kenya, Winfred Machengo, 29, wanted to have her own business that helped the farmers in her community. Before joining iDE, Winfred had a job with a local organization that provided agronomy training and services to farmers. Ebulali farmers primarily grow maize and groundnuts, but climate change has pushed many to diversify their crops and adopt new farming skills to make sure yields increase year by year. 

In 2023, with the harvest season approaching, Winfred and her colleagues were introduced to Bountifield International—now iDE Kenya—to explore offering additional services to farmers in her program. With a full-time job, this meant more work for Winfred, but she also saw it as “an opportunity to start her own business built on helping farmers during the busiest season of the year,” said Winfred.

Winfred builds a postharvest business from scratch with iDE support.

When Winfred joined iDE as an entrepreneur, she was given access to financial support to purchase her first maize sheller—a machine that removes the kernels from corn cobs—which she would use to offer shelling services to farmers during postharvest. After completing a three-day training boot camp that covered business management, digital marketing, and safety training and setting up a Facebook page to advertise her services, Winfred felt confident and ready to start her business.

Her business was live ‘online’ and soon farmers from across the county began calling her to visit their farm with the machine to help with harvesting. She visited farmers one by one, strapping the machine to her motorcycle and driving from farm to farm along the village’s dirt roads. Within six months, the shelling business had become her primary source of income, surpassing her full-time salary from her job. In January 2024, Winfred took a risk and resigned from her full-time role, choosing to focus instead on her shelling business and pursue entrepreneurship. 

"At first, I did not know I could operate a machine because I had the perception that it was too dangerous for a woman,” said Winfred. “But with training, not only can I operate the machine but I also have a motorbike, I can shell maize with the thresher, and I also have a machine to make cattle feed."

Today she serves more than 100 farmers in her community through agricultural training and machine support. 

Postharvest peaks for farmers with equipment support from Winfred. 

A large body of evidence shows that when women are supported, they invest in their children's health and education, and provide vital resources like food, water, and energy to a home. That’s why iDE launched its ten-year strategy aimed at powering 1 million women entrepreneurs to foster prosperity in their communities for 100 million people.

In November 2023, Winfred discovered a gap in the processed milk market in her area. The only yogurts that were being sold were coming from Nairobi and were beyond the reach of most members of the community. Armed with her business strategy training and food technology background, she decided to venture into yogurt production—a food staple in Kenya. Winfred packaged small samples and took them to the market, building a dedicated customer base over time. Today, she processes on average 150 liters of milk in a day, and has three full time employees. In postharvest earnings, she earns more than four times her former salary, and she’s looking forward to starting her peanut production business later this year with support from iDE.

Written by John Waweru, Monitoring and Evaluation Manager at iDE Kenya. Stay connected with iDE Kenya on our social channels here.