It was a bright, sunny morning on 11 June 2006 when my mum, little sister and I landed at Heathrow airport. We got off the Emirates flight, worked our way through arrivals and were met by my dad. He’d been waiting for us for about a day because our original flight was delayed due to technical issues. Unlike him, we’d been put up in a five-star hotel in Nairobi by the airline and upgraded to business class. What had seemed like the end of the world I knew in leaving my home country didn’t seem too bad after all!
Born in the coastal city of Mombasa, Kenya had been my home for the first decade and a half of my life.
My dad got a job with the NHS in 2005, which led to us joining him a year later.
I remember I had to stand in front of my class in Kilimo primary school to narrate my first experience on a plane to a foreign country
I’d been to England before in 1998 with Mum to visit Dad, who was completing an MSc in tropical medicine in London. Everything fascinated me, from escalators to Big Ben and London Aquarium.
Back in Kenya, I remember I had to stand in front of my class in Kilimo primary school to narrate my first experience on a plane to a foreign country.
Never looked back
It took a month to get into King’s International College, a local secondary school 10 minutes’ walk from home. Joining a secondary school at 15, in a new country, with completely different cultures was interesting to say the least.
Nevertheless, my parents and younger sister were always by my side, which made all these changes more bearable. I knew I wanted to work with animals, so being a vet seemed like the only route to go down.
After my GCSE results, I secured a place at The Sixth Form College Farnborough to study biology, chemistry, French, maths and psychology.
I was in for a rude shock come January exams. The transition from GCSE to A-level was something else! As I expected, my A-level results weren’t what I needed for vet school. I quickly woke up from my dream.
i was meant to work with pigs; I helped lay concrete for a new cow shed all week. I was offered a job on the Friday, and I haven’t looked back since
Troubleshooting in my tutor’s office with my disappointed parents and empathetic sister, I decided to do an Animal Management BSc at Sparsholt College.
I took a gap year before university to earn some spending money. During this year out, I did a week’s work experience on a mixed farm in Upton Grey, Hampshire. I was meant to work with pigs; I helped lay concrete for a new cow shed all week. I was offered a job on the Friday, and I haven’t looked back since.
My four-day weeks on the farm soon turned into seven after I quit my part-time job at a local hospital. There was something about farming: the open space, the machinery, the animals, the freedom. After starting my degree, I continued working part-time during my holidays on the farm.
Passion for pig farming
After a few other part-time jobs as a student, I got a full-time job as an assistant pig unit manager three months before completing my course in Sussex.
Three years later, there was a brief hiatus in my farming career, and I went to work for a feed company in Kent as a commercial assistant. The farming bug came knocking 18 months later and I was back doing my old job (my social life was still in Sussex, so it felt like the right thing to do).
I was promoted to unit manager six months later and I could finally implement my ideas on the unit.
Our pigs are outdoor reared, which means they are born and stay outside until they’re 12 weeks old, when we move them indoors for just over four weeks
Exactly 11 years later, I am back in Hampshire where it all began, managing the pig herd. We’ve 130 sows whose progeny are reared on farm to RSPCA standards, then sold through our farm shop.
Our pigs are outdoor reared, which means they are born and stay outside until they’re 12 weeks old, when we move them indoors for just over four weeks.
The pig industry is probably in the worst position it’s been in since I started in 2010.
The impact this has had on farmers’ mental health is unimaginable
Brexit, feed prices, pandemic, staffing shortages, lack of transparency in the supply chain; the list seems endless. Some farmers have been hit harder than others with regards to stocking densities, and in the worst cases, on-farm culling.
The impact this has had on farmers’ mental health is unimaginable. Therefore, it’s a bit of an oxymoron that we can constantly talk about the importance of mental health and yet we don’t seem to work towards stopping the causes of mental health issues.
It’s as if we’re creating problems in order to solve them and make ourselves feel productive; a slightly odd concept in my opinion. Despite all the issues we’re facing, though, I feel that there are plenty of opportunities out there for those willing to go an extra mile. We just need to survive this shambles.
New opportunities
Since starting farming, I’ve been exposed to a few opportunities I most probably wouldn’t have had if I wasn’t in the industry. I’ve attended the Oxford Farming Conference twice despite it being virtual. In 2020, I got a Breaking Barriers scholarship from McDonald’s and this year, I managed to get onto the Oxford Farming Conference Inspire group.
The exposure these events gives me is second to none. Learning from different industries and meeting very interesting and inspiring people is what motivates me to get better at whatever I do.
I’m very fortunate to have got the opportunity to forge a career in the British agricultural industry, albeit with the scarcity of black people in it. We as farmers have a duty to attract people from different backgrounds into our wonderful industry. This could be achieved by working with inner city schools and colleges to attract young people out into the countryside and onto farms.
Different cultures and upbringings mean fresh ideas and different ways of doing things. We’ve diversified our herbal leys and genetics to within an inch of their lives, yet our personnel are still monocultural. It’s not too late to change this.
I hope to one day own my farm; I’m not waking up from this dream yet! And so long as I’m involved with British agriculture, I’ll work my socks off to increase the number of people of colour in farming.
Follow Flavian on Twitter
@kenyanpigfarmer
Read more
‘Within 24 hours we’d sold out of pork boxes; and we had a waiting list!’
20 minutes with Avril Allshire-Howe, founder of Rosscarbery Recipes
It was a bright, sunny morning on 11 June 2006 when my mum, little sister and I landed at Heathrow airport. We got off the Emirates flight, worked our way through arrivals and were met by my dad. He’d been waiting for us for about a day because our original flight was delayed due to technical issues. Unlike him, we’d been put up in a five-star hotel in Nairobi by the airline and upgraded to business class. What had seemed like the end of the world I knew in leaving my home country didn’t seem too bad after all!
Born in the coastal city of Mombasa, Kenya had been my home for the first decade and a half of my life.
My dad got a job with the NHS in 2005, which led to us joining him a year later.
I remember I had to stand in front of my class in Kilimo primary school to narrate my first experience on a plane to a foreign country
I’d been to England before in 1998 with Mum to visit Dad, who was completing an MSc in tropical medicine in London. Everything fascinated me, from escalators to Big Ben and London Aquarium.
Back in Kenya, I remember I had to stand in front of my class in Kilimo primary school to narrate my first experience on a plane to a foreign country.
Never looked back
It took a month to get into King’s International College, a local secondary school 10 minutes’ walk from home. Joining a secondary school at 15, in a new country, with completely different cultures was interesting to say the least.
Nevertheless, my parents and younger sister were always by my side, which made all these changes more bearable. I knew I wanted to work with animals, so being a vet seemed like the only route to go down.
After my GCSE results, I secured a place at The Sixth Form College Farnborough to study biology, chemistry, French, maths and psychology.
I was in for a rude shock come January exams. The transition from GCSE to A-level was something else! As I expected, my A-level results weren’t what I needed for vet school. I quickly woke up from my dream.
i was meant to work with pigs; I helped lay concrete for a new cow shed all week. I was offered a job on the Friday, and I haven’t looked back since
Troubleshooting in my tutor’s office with my disappointed parents and empathetic sister, I decided to do an Animal Management BSc at Sparsholt College.
I took a gap year before university to earn some spending money. During this year out, I did a week’s work experience on a mixed farm in Upton Grey, Hampshire. I was meant to work with pigs; I helped lay concrete for a new cow shed all week. I was offered a job on the Friday, and I haven’t looked back since.
My four-day weeks on the farm soon turned into seven after I quit my part-time job at a local hospital. There was something about farming: the open space, the machinery, the animals, the freedom. After starting my degree, I continued working part-time during my holidays on the farm.
Passion for pig farming
After a few other part-time jobs as a student, I got a full-time job as an assistant pig unit manager three months before completing my course in Sussex.
Three years later, there was a brief hiatus in my farming career, and I went to work for a feed company in Kent as a commercial assistant. The farming bug came knocking 18 months later and I was back doing my old job (my social life was still in Sussex, so it felt like the right thing to do).
I was promoted to unit manager six months later and I could finally implement my ideas on the unit.
Our pigs are outdoor reared, which means they are born and stay outside until they’re 12 weeks old, when we move them indoors for just over four weeks
Exactly 11 years later, I am back in Hampshire where it all began, managing the pig herd. We’ve 130 sows whose progeny are reared on farm to RSPCA standards, then sold through our farm shop.
Our pigs are outdoor reared, which means they are born and stay outside until they’re 12 weeks old, when we move them indoors for just over four weeks.
The pig industry is probably in the worst position it’s been in since I started in 2010.
The impact this has had on farmers’ mental health is unimaginable
Brexit, feed prices, pandemic, staffing shortages, lack of transparency in the supply chain; the list seems endless. Some farmers have been hit harder than others with regards to stocking densities, and in the worst cases, on-farm culling.
The impact this has had on farmers’ mental health is unimaginable. Therefore, it’s a bit of an oxymoron that we can constantly talk about the importance of mental health and yet we don’t seem to work towards stopping the causes of mental health issues.
It’s as if we’re creating problems in order to solve them and make ourselves feel productive; a slightly odd concept in my opinion. Despite all the issues we’re facing, though, I feel that there are plenty of opportunities out there for those willing to go an extra mile. We just need to survive this shambles.
New opportunities
Since starting farming, I’ve been exposed to a few opportunities I most probably wouldn’t have had if I wasn’t in the industry. I’ve attended the Oxford Farming Conference twice despite it being virtual. In 2020, I got a Breaking Barriers scholarship from McDonald’s and this year, I managed to get onto the Oxford Farming Conference Inspire group.
The exposure these events gives me is second to none. Learning from different industries and meeting very interesting and inspiring people is what motivates me to get better at whatever I do.
I’m very fortunate to have got the opportunity to forge a career in the British agricultural industry, albeit with the scarcity of black people in it. We as farmers have a duty to attract people from different backgrounds into our wonderful industry. This could be achieved by working with inner city schools and colleges to attract young people out into the countryside and onto farms.
Different cultures and upbringings mean fresh ideas and different ways of doing things. We’ve diversified our herbal leys and genetics to within an inch of their lives, yet our personnel are still monocultural. It’s not too late to change this.
I hope to one day own my farm; I’m not waking up from this dream yet! And so long as I’m involved with British agriculture, I’ll work my socks off to increase the number of people of colour in farming.
Follow Flavian on Twitter
@kenyanpigfarmer
Read more
‘Within 24 hours we’d sold out of pork boxes; and we had a waiting list!’
20 minutes with Avril Allshire-Howe, founder of Rosscarbery Recipes
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