Three years ago, Felista Nguthuko wouldn’t touch a mushroom, let alone eat it. Today, she grows and sells hundreds of kilos of them every month — and has built a business that transformed her life.
In Kenya, mushrooms still carry a stigma. Many people confuse the edible varieties with their toxic wild counterparts, and suspicion lingers.
“When I started growing mushrooms, I went almost a year without eating them. I was just selling to people and trying to understand how they consumed them,” she says.
When the BDLife visits her facility in Baba Dogo Estate, Nairobi, the sun is blazing outside. But stepping into her grow house, it's cool, dark, and fragrant. It is like entering another world.
Felista Nguthuko at her oyster mushroom farm in Baba Dogo, Nairobi, on May 22, 2025.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
“These are grow kits,” she says, gesturing at the polythene bags hanging neatly in rows.
Inside her compact 11-by-14-foot room, which she leases for Sh15,000 a month, Felista has about 500 oyster mushroom grow kits nearing harvest. Others have just been cleared and are ready for a new cycle.
“Most people think you need land. I started with one room. Look where I am now,” she says with a proud smile.
Five years into mushroom farming, Felista now earns a stable income that supports her family.
“I love what I do. It’s my full-time job now,” she says. “I can pay rent, my children are in school, and we eat well.”
She started small, improvising as she went along. “I can’t even say how much I started with. I didn’t have all the materials, and I was still working on construction.”
About 50 kilometres away, in the quiet neighbourhood of Kerarapon in Karen, Maureen Bosire also runs a successful mushroom farm, though her path was entirely different.
Growing up in the village, Maureen hated farming. “I associated farming with backwardness and poverty,” she says.
She had dreamt of moving to Nairobi to wear suits and heels, far removed from soil and sweat.
But life had other plans. Today, she’s surrounded by rows of bags filled with button mushrooms, running a thriving agribusiness from her home.
“I didn’t set out to start a business. I just wanted to feed my family with natural protein,” she says.
Maureen Bosire at her button mushroom farm in Karen, Nairobi, on May 23, 2025.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
Her journey began in her family’s unfinished servant quarters. After her first harvest yielded more than they could eat, she shared a photo in a WhatsApp group.
“I sold a punnet for Sh300. By the afternoon, they were all gone,” she says.
The next day, she had 100 orders. Then 150. Within four days, she had made Sh15,000.
Meanwhile, Felista’s first batch was a total failure. “I didn’t know how to moisten the substrate properly. Everything was contaminated. It was a tough lesson. But I never gave up.”
She now harvests every two to three days, producing up to 200 punnets which she sells at Sh100 to Sh150 each. Her biggest market is City Park, along with clients in Highridge and Kilimanjaro, plus referrals from friends.
Oyster vs button mushrooms
While Felista grows oyster mushrooms, Maureen works with button mushrooms, a choice rooted more in circumstance than strategy.
“I just knew I wanted an organic protein source for my family,” she says.
Button mushrooms require composted wheat straw or sugarcane bagasse, pasteurised to eliminate pests, then mixed with spawn. After incubation in a warm, dark space, she adds a casing layer of soil, lime, and maram to trigger fruiting.
Button mushrooms at a farm.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
“It’s a spiritual thing,” she says. “You go to bed, and in the morning — boom! — they’re out.”
Each cycle lasts about a month, yielding multiple flushes before it’s reset.
For both women, mushroom farming began during periods of personal upheaval.
Felista had been in the spare parts business for over 20 years when the pandemic forced her to shut down. With nothing working and despair setting in, she went to visit her mother — and stumbled upon a local TV programme on mushroom farming.
“They said it wasn’t capital- or labour-intensive. That caught my attention. I’m a risk-taker — if it’s possible, I’ll try it.”
Curious, she enrolled in training at the Jomo Kenyatta University for Agriculture and Technology (Jkuat) and the National Museums of Kenya. The woman who sold her the first grow kits also mentored her on caring for them.
On the other hand, Maureen, a housewife and mother, had just returned from abroad with her husband, a private security expert. He had survived cancer, but the experience had left them emotionally and financially drained.
“We came back with unpaid school fees, debts, and no plan,” she says.
With her husband unable to work, Maureen took charge. “I asked myself, what can I grow that’s healthy for him and good for the family?”
Demand
Their biggest challenge now? Keeping up with demand.
“It wasn’t a lack of buyers,” Maureen says. “It was not having enough to sell.”
Healthy living trends are fuelling demand. Felista says some people give up after one season, but those who understand the nutritional benefits become lifelong consumers.
“Mushrooms are rich in omega-3, regulate blood sugar, have traces of insulin, and are loaded with vitamin D,” she says. “Some days, I have 10 clients each asking for 50 punnets. That's a lot!”
She has since expanded into value-added products like mushroom powder, samosas, and biscuits, and often teaches clients how to prepare them.
“The dried mushrooms absorb sunlight and are very flavourful,” says Felista.
Maureen is training youth from informal settlements and plans to venture into mushroom-based scrubs and supplements.
“My goal is not just to hire casual workers. I want them to understand the full process,” she says.
Farming process
So, what does it take to grow mushrooms?
Oyster mushrooms start with pasteurised agricultural waste — wheat straw or sawdust — which is packed into transparent bags and layered with spawn. The bags are tied, punctured, and placed in a humid, dark space.
Oyster mushrooms at a farm.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
After two to three weeks of daily misting, mushrooms sprout through the holes.
White button mushrooms demand more precision: carefully composted materials, stricter temperature control, and longer incubation. But they fetch a higher market price and are preferred by high-end clients.
“Oysters grow faster and are more forgiving. Buttons are slower but more profitable,” says Felista.
Mushroom farming, they stress, is not a shortcut to riches.
“This is not for lazy people,” says Felista. “We start at 3am with harvesting, packing, and labelling. By 5am, I’m done selling and back home.”
They manage pests like green mould and slugs using natural methods — turmeric, neem, vinegar, and good hygiene.
Felista has one regret: not starting sooner.
“You can begin with Sh6,000 and get 10 to 12 bags. With Sh20,000, you’re all set,” she says. “But don’t expect millions overnight. It’s a commitment.”
“Once you start growing mushrooms yourself,” she adds, “you won’t want to stop.”
