Susan Waithira Kuria (53) grew up in a family of eight children in a farm in the Kenyan highlands. Today, the mother of four works as the Managing Director of Essential Drugs Limited, the company ensuring the manufacturing of animal feed premixes and distribution of animal feed additives in the East and Central Africa Region she founded with her husband.

“Growing up on a farm was fun for such a big family and this background has had a big impact on me”, Susan introduces herself. The family ran a dairy operation, and it was the children’s responsibility to milk the cows and take the milk to the local dairy. With the addition of sheep for meat and chickens for eggs and occasionally meat, plus most of the family’s food grown on the farm, life was good. “The farming then was never commercial and there was never too much focus on feeding the animals except grazing them in the fields”, Susan says.

Essential Drugs Limited

Susan always knew she wanted to pursue an education in animal nutrition and business management. On top of attaining her MBA in Business Management, she gathered experience in animal nutrition through hands-on learning on the job. “After graduating, I worked at the University for seven years before establishing our current business with my husband”, Susan explains.

Today, Essential Drugs Limited reaches all across East and Central Africa, with distribution offices and warehouses in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, supplying animal feed additives to animal feed millers and farmers. “We manufacture animal feed vitamin and mineral premixes, import and distribute various feed additives and also offer training and technical support to our clients”, Susan continues. “Our additives offer key nutritional ingredients for animal feeds. We work with several manufacturers of these ingredients to learn on how to apply them and maximize the returns while using the products.” In addition, Susan’s company also offers products that promote the wellbeing of confined animals. A team of technical sales reps is out in the field visiting feed millers and farmers to offer technical support when needed.

Managing Director and farmer

With all that, Susan is also still a farmer. “Today, I have a large farm with one hundred dairy cows, milking about six hundred liters of milk per day, plus eight hundred pigs, chickens and goats”, she says. “I enjoy my evenings and weekends on the farm, taking care of my animals and feeding them. My farm is my personal testing field: we try out some of the products that we put out in the market there.”

Through her work running her business and her farm, Susan has learned a lot about agriculture. “I learned that how you feed an animal determines how much you get from it in return and that the commercial aspect of animal farming is determined in great part by feed. I have learned that there are so many technical products that can be used to improve productivity, I have learned that you need to formulate balanced feeds for animals.”

Women run agriculture

In Susan’s opinion, agriculture in Africa is mostly run by women. “Many women find themselves in agriculture not by choice, but because it’s the only way to make a living”, she explains. While she does not feel the perception of women in agriculture is biased, she does perceive some bias towards people working in agriculture in general. “We find that agriculture is looked upon as a low tier job for those who have nothing better to do”, she says. “For women, agriculture is a way of not only feeding their families, but also of carving out small incomes for themselves.”

With this in mind, Susan tries to use her success to support other women in agriculture. “I am happy to support young girls studying animal nutrition as a profession through giving them a platform to practice and work at my company. There are not that many women doing the job I do, but there are several young women in my team that I am mentoring.”

To Susan, winning second place in the Women in Ag Awards was a recognition for a job she loves. “When we started this business of manufacturing animal feed premix in Kenya, no one thought it would be possible since all the premixes were imported back then”, she says. “I have been involved in growing our company since inception and I have a very extensive knowledge of the animal feed industry in East and Central Africa. I am proud of the role that I have played in promoting technology in the animal feeds sector and introduction of technical products. The efforts, commitment and dedication I put in have been worthwhile and I look forward to reaching out even more!”

The award, designed to celebrate women in agriculture and their achievements, is a very important symbol to Susan. “It is important to celebrate women in our industry for the silent, yet important roles they play.”

Her advice to young women who dream of starting a career in agriculture? “Look at agriculture as a science that connects you with nature. Learn on how to improve agriculture by understanding the science behind it. Learn on how to commercialize agriculture by adopting technology and also how to feed the world cost effectively and without any harm to the environment.”