Billy Ndungu has been a farm worker since he was 15. He currently has a steady job working for a vegetable farmer in central Kenya. The farm produces green beans and sweet potatoes, as well as some coffee and sugar cane.
Billy works 8am - 5pm, six days a week. He is given three meals a day by his employer, who also houses him, and he has a month's leave each year although the terms of his employment are not written down.
Farm work is his only source of income and Billy needs to send money to his wife and two young children who live back in his rural home. He receives around 67 Kenyan Shillings a day. An average family needs around 100 Kenyan Shillings per day just for food.
On top of this are the costs of cooking fuel, soap, clothing, school books, medical fees, and other essentials. "I send them something small every so often," he explains, but struggles to make ends meet.
He hopes his children have a better future. "I would not want my children to be hired as farm workers", he says. "I would want them to get good jobs in an office… I look at my children and think how hard my life is. I wouldn't want them to have such a tough life as mine."
