How Lydia Wanja Turned a Teacher’s Calling into a Thriving Export Enterprise

Date: Friday, 24 April 2026

Lydia Wanja, CEO of Lidsam Investments Limited, harvests basil with one of her farm assistants. Most of the medicinal herbs grown on her farm are destined for export markets. Photo: UN Women Kenya/Jesse Matere Watakila.

The chalk dust of the classroom has long settled for Lydia Wanja. In its place are now the earthy scents of basil, rosemary and thyme growing inside climate‑smart greenhouses in Meru County. Once a teacher shaping young minds, she is now cultivating something equally powerful: a thriving agribusiness that is opening doors for women farmers and bringing Kenyan herbs to international markets.

Lydia, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lidsam Investments Limited, represents a new generation of Kenyan women entrepreneurs redefining agriculture through innovation, resilience and social impact. Her story is one of determination, driven not just by the pursuit of profit but by a deep commitment to solving food insecurity and creating opportunities for women, youth and persons with disabilities.

Across Kenya, women play a critical role in local economies, yet many face barriers to finance, markets and procurement opportunities. Initiatives aimed at strengthening women-led enterprises are increasingly focusing on building the capacity of entrepreneurs to access markets, adopt digital tools and participate in formal supply chains. Lydia’s journey offers a vivid example of how such empowerment can translate into tangible economic transformation.

However, her journey did not begin on a farm. Professionally, she trained as a teacher and graduated from Kenyatta University in 2007 with a degree in education, specialising in early childhood education. For 13 years she taught in the classroom, driven by a passion for nurturing young minds.

“I loved teaching and working with children,” Lydia recalls. “But when I travelled to villages during teaching practice, I saw something that troubled me deeply, many children were malnourished and struggling to concentrate in class because they lacked food.”

Those experiences planted the seeds of a new mission. In many parts of northern Kenya, prolonged drought and climate change have devastated traditional farming systems. Communities rely heavily on relief food and livestock, leaving little room for sustainable food production.

“I would enter a classroom and find children sleeping because they had not eaten,” she says. “In the villages, people were sitting under trees waiting for food to arrive in the market. That is when I began asking myself: what can I do to help bridge the food gap?”

The answer emerged in 2019 when she founded Lidsam Investments Limited, a horticultural enterprise focused on climate-smart agriculture. Instead of relying on rain-fed farming, Lydia invested in greenhouses and drip irrigation systems designed to withstand harsh climatic conditions.

“With climate change, the only way to ensure adequate food supply is to embrace smart farming,” she explains. “We use greenhouses and drip irrigation to produce food throughout the year.”

Today the company specializes in the cultivation of medicinal herbs including basil, rosemary, sage, oregano and tarragon. These herbs are in high demand in international markets and form the backbone of Lydia’s export business.

“Our medicinal herbs are mainly for export,” she says. “Depending on demand, we supply clients in France and the United Arab Emirates.”

But farming for export requires precision and careful planning. Lydia operates under a contract farming model where crops are grown according to the needs of buyers.

“If a client in France orders one tonne of basil every week, then we plan our production around that order,” she explains. “You cannot produce such fragile crops without knowing where the market is.”

The herbs are harvested, graded and stored in a cold room before being transported in refrigerated trucks to Nairobi’s airport for export.

“It is a very delicate process,” she says. “The products are highly perishable, so everything, from harvesting to airlifting, must be carefully coordinated.”

Beyond exports, Lydia also produces vegetables such as tomatoes, watermelon and leafy greens for the local market. These crops help sustain the business during the low export season between the months of March and August.

Each month, her farm produces about five tonnes of vegetables and herbs combined.

Yet the true impact of Lydia’s enterprise goes beyond production figures. Lidsam Investments has become a lifeline for many families in the region, employing women, youth and persons with disabilities.

Currently, more than 50 people earn livelihood through the enterprise either directly or through farming partnerships.

“I believe agriculture should benefit the entire community,” Lydia says. “That is why we work closely with women farmers and buy herbs from them for export.”

Through her Vulnerable Groups Empowerment Foundation, Lydia trains women to cultivate crops such as mint, rosemary and chives on their own farms. Once harvested, the produce is aggregated, graded and exported through Lidsam’s supply chain.

“They grow the crops and I buy from them at the farm gate,” she explains. “Then we package the products here and send them to the international market.”

For women employed directly at the farm, Lydia has introduced a unique support system. Many are young mothers, so she established a free daycare facility at the farm.

“The women can bring their children to work and breastfeed them during breaks,” she says. “That way they can earn an income without worrying about the safety of their babies.”

Despite the success, the journey has not been without challenges. Lydia recalls the early days when knowledge gaps, market exploitation and financial constraints threatened to derail her ambitions.

“When we started, accessing markets was a big problem,” she says. “Some buyers would collect our produce and disappear without paying.”

She also notes that women entrepreneurs often face skepticism within their communities.

“Many people believe that only men can succeed in business,” she says. “Women must overcome those stereotypes and believe in themselves.”

Financial barriers remain another hurdle for aspiring entrepreneurs.

“When women go to banks for loans, they are asked for bank statements and business projections,” she explains. “But how do you have projections when you are just starting?”

Lydia Wanja demonstrates the process of packaging rosemary on her farm. The process includes sorting the harvest, weighing it, and carefully packing it into boxes lined with special polythene for export. Photo: UN Women Kenya/Jesse Matere Watakila.

Even so, Lydia believes agriculture holds immense potential for Kenya’s youth and women.

“There is easy money in horticulture if you do it the right way,” she says. “From farm production to export markets, the opportunities are enormous.”

Her future plans include expanding herb production, producing edible oils from avocados and packaging dried herbs for supermarkets.

“I want to scale up and turn this farm into a full production company,” she says.

Reflecting on the training, she says it helped her unlock new business opportunities.

Behind Lydia’s growth is a broader initiative designed to strengthen women’s economic empowerment in Kenya. Under the UAE Strategic Partnership Framework programme, UN Women Kenya has been supporting women entrepreneurs through targeted capacity-building on Gender-Responsive Procurement, access to finance, trade and digital business tools.

The programme aims to strengthen women-led enterprises, enhance their resilience and expand their participation in economic value chains.

Through training, mentorship and exposure to markets, women entrepreneurs gain the knowledge and confidence needed to compete in procurement systems and scale their businesses.

For Lydia Wanja, the transformation is already visible in the fields she now manages and in the lives of the women who work alongside her.

Her journey, from classroom teacher to internationally connected farmer, stands as a testament to the power of innovation and determination.

And as Lydia often tells the women she mentors, the future of agriculture in Kenya may very well lie in the hands of those bold enough to reimagine the land.

“Farming is not just about food,” she says. “It is about creating opportunities and changing lives.”