Best Business to Start in Rural Areas in Kenya
Rural areas in Kenya are often overlooked in the business world, yet they have great potential. There are so many profitable businesses that you can start in rural areas in Kenya. You just need to identify the type of product or service you want to provide, launch your business and start marketing it.
Profitable Business to Start in Rural Areas in Kenya
The following is a list of profitable businesses to start in rural areas in Kenya:
1. Salon and Kinyozi
Women often require hairdressing services like braiding, while men require haircuts. Hence, a salon and kinyozi are good business ideas to start in rural areas in Kenya. The demand for these services is high and there is less competition unlike in towns. You could be skilled in this job to attract and retain customers.
2. Dairy Farming
Dairy farming is also a good small business to start in rural areas in Kenya. This activity best suits people who are passionate about livestock. Rural areas have vast land where you can graze the cows or plant grass for them. You can also start a dairy shop where people who rear cows can sell their cow’s milk.
3. Poultry Farming
Poultry farming is one of the best small business ideas to start in rural areas in Kenya. The demand for eggs and chicken meat is high. Poultry coops do not require a large space as compared to livestock sheds. You can choose rare layers, broilers, or indigenous chicken. It is easier to rare indigenous chicken because they have less feeding costs and are less prone to diseases. Their eggs and meat also fetch more money in the market compared to that of layers and broilers.
4. Fish Farming
Fish farming is a good rural business idea in Kenya, especially where there are rivers. You need to have enough supply of water and a large piece of land where you can dig a fish pond. A good fish pond should have a water inlet and an outlet. This is to ensure that they have clean and fresh water. You can rear different types of fish like tilapia. You can then sell your fish to your neighbors or take them to the nearby market.
5. Charcoal Production
People in rural areas often use charcoal for cooking making this charcoal production a business idea in rural areas. Due to the availability of trees, it is easy to burn charcoal. If you produce charcoal in a large scale, you can be transporting and sell them in towns. Make sure to get permit to burn and sell charcoal to avoid conflicts with authorities.
6. Selling Firewood
Firewood is a commodity that is plentiful in supply in forested parts of the country. Many people in rural areas use firewood for cooking, hence it is a commodity with high demand. As such, it is a good rural business idea in Kenya. If you have firewood on a large scale, you can start selling them to boarding schools and hotels.
7. Boda Boda Business
People in rural areas mostly live far away from town centers. They prefer using motorcycles or bicycles to get to the town centers. Boda Bodas are convenient and can access places where vehicles can’t reach. The good thing about boda boda business is that you will have customers of your own who can call you from time to time to pick and drop them. Also, boda bodas do not consume a lot of fuel, hence they are cheap to maintain. This makes the boda boda business one of the best businesses to start in rural areas.
8. Furniture Making
Furniture making is also a great rural business idea to start in Kenya. Skilled carpenters make furniture, wood carvings, and any other item and sell them at a fair price. People buy furniture or wood items often. If you’re a skilled carpenter, then you can try this idea. You can even be making furniture in rural areas and attract customers from towns.
9. Tailoring
Are you a skilled and creative tailor? Well, this is a good rural business idea in Kenya. Dressmaking and cloth repair is a service on demand. People in rural areas prefer to wear locally made clothes compared to new clothes that are expensive. There are few talented tailors in rural areas and therefore if you are good at it, you can make a kill from it. you can make sew clothes or repair torn clothes.
10. Cycle Repair
Cycle repair is also a great rural business idea you can start in Kenya. You can choose to repair bicycles or motorcycles. You can also sell boda boda spare parts along with the repair services. Due to the availability of many boda bodas in rural areas, this is a profitable business with high demand.
11. Agrovet and Animal Feeds Business
Since many people in the rural areas are farmers, agrovet business and animal feeds business are one of the best businesses to start in rural areas in Kenya. You can sell animal feeds, animal medicine, fertilizers, seeds among others. Most people in rural areas engage in agricultural activities, so why not bring these products closer?
12. Retail Shop
Retail shops are the most common type of business that can be started in rural areas. With the growing number of people here, retail shops are much more convenient. Since there are no supermarkets in rural areas, the majority of the people buy household items from retail shops. There are so many items you can sell in retail shops such as milk, bread, airtime, toiletries, books, stationery, etc.
13. Posho Mill Business
People in rural areas prefer flour from the posho mills over the packaged flour sold in shops. This makes posho mill one of the best rural business ideas in Kenya, especially where maize is grown. They take their maize to the posho mill to be grounded into flour. You can choose to buy a diesel or electric posho mill. Diesel posho mill is highly preferred since it is consistent as compared to ones that use electricity due to blackouts.
Read also: Profitable small business ideas in Kenya.
14. Selling Vegetables
Vegetable business is a profitable business in rural areas, especially where farming is the key economic activity. You can sell vegetables like kales, cabbages, carrots, onions, carrots and tomatoes. If you have a large farm, you can grow vegetables in large scale and start supplying them to institutions like boarding schools and hospitals.
15. Sale of Scrap Metal
Sale of scrap metal is one of the best rural business ideas in Kenya. There are many scrap metal in the rural areas and you can take advantage and start collecting them. Many people end up throwing away worn out metallic household items like sufurias. You can start collecting scrap metal and then sell them to scrap metal dealers. This is a good business that does not require much startup capital.
Summary of the Best Business to Start in Rural Areas in Kenya
There are so many small business ideas that you can start in rural areas in Kenya. The above are some of those businesses you can consider starting. Most of them don’t require huge startup capital. Make sure to carry out market research before starting one. Start a business that best suits you.
