How Vivo Energy Is Helping Eldoret Mechanics Power Kenya’s Food Chain

By James Gitaka

While the swish of traffic along Eldoret’s Northern Bypass highway on a Saturday morning is the usual reminder of an active business route for traders and motorists in the city, the rumbles of 16-tonne lorries filled with bags of maize from Turbo, tractors girding to till Moiben’s rich soils, matatus waiting to take Ziwa traders to their markets, and motor-cyclists ferrying spares after dropping them off are all sounds emanating from a single source.

The men and women in oil-stained overalls.

More than 100 mechanics from across the North Rift region converged on Eldoret as Vivo Energy Kenya, the company that markets and distributes Shell products in Kenya, held its 2nd annual Mechanics Wellness Day, an event dedicated to honouring the skilled professionals who power Kenya’s transport, agriculture and industrial sectors.

Running under the theme Celebrating the People Behind Kenya’s Mobility Ecosystem, the day blended sports, recreation and healthcare into a single celebration of a trade that rarely receives public recognition despite its centrality to the country’s economy.

Held under the banner of health and wellness awareness, the event’s significance reverberated through the town as mechanics in the region get recognition for their role in Kenya’s food production and distribution chain, and industrial activity.

The Invisible Backbone

To most Kenyans, mechanics are the backbone of many industries. But to those in Uasin Gishu County, these skilled workers represent food security.

While the county supplies over 40% of the country’s maize as the nucleus of Kenya’s breadbasket, it is the tractors, planters, combines and irrigation pumps that enable farmers to turn this bounty into profits. Similarly, without the trucks that carry the grains to the National Cereals and Produce Board depots, or to Mombasa and across the borders to Uganda and Sudan, much of the produce would languish in the fields. Even the piped water that keeps dairy farmers in Kesses busy is a mechanical marvel that needs regular servicing.

And where better to understand the symbiosis between mechanics, farmers and traders than in Uasin Gishu?

Speaking during the event, Stephen Gikonyo, Lubricants and LPG Sales and Marketing Manager at Vivo Energy Kenya, said the wellness day was about appreciating the hands that keep Kenya moving.

“This day is about celebrating and thanking the skilled men and women whose hands keep Kenya moving. Behind every safe journey, every successful delivery and every successful harvest is a mechanic whose expertise makes it possible. Through Shell Lubricants, we are proud to stand alongside these professionals by investing not only in high quality products, but also in their health, skills and wellbeing. We believe that behind every mechanic should be a partner that cares, and today’s event is a reflection of that commitment,” Gikonyo said.

This support is a form of value addition that comes in various forms depending on how integrated a mechanic is in a given supply chain.

A mechanic in Soy village who services a 75 horse-power tractor and advises his farmer customer to use Shell lubricants is helping that individual add value to his investment in a number of ways, including increasing the distance covered per litre of fuel, shortening harvest durations and lowering running costs.

Where the Bypass Meets the Breadbasket

Nowhere is this value addition more critical than on the route of the Northern Bypass.

The 32 km road that is meant to divert heavy traffic away from the town and connect the Suam border to the Northern Corridor has attracted commercial activities along the Elgon View, Cheplaskei and Maili Tisa routes.

Warehouses, grain storage facilities, spares dealers, jua kali workshops, fabrication firms and catering outlets have cropped up to serve the needs of the motorists plying along the by-pass.

At one garage, mechanics were seen changing a lorry’s oil while at the next, another team was servicing a commercial vehicle that delivers fertilizer from Mombasa. At the third, a mechanic was repairing a plough for a farmer from Ainabkoi.

All of them are integral parts of the county’s bustling agricultural production system and its commercialization channels.

In fact, the value addition that mechanics provide cuts through everything that makes up the county’s famed agricultural produce.

County agricultural statistics show that Uasin Gishu’s 120,000 plus hectares of maize production is testimony to the significant role the mechanics in the county play in facilitating increased yields through higher mechanization.

As much as 30 % of farms in the county were fully mechanized a decade ago and this figure is fast rising with the county’s tractor hire programme that complements private mechanization efforts.

Without a mechanic within 10 kms to do minor servicing and major repairs on tractors, the “breadbasket” moniker would not have been realized.

Health, Dignity and the Cost of Living

Despite the invaluable services, mechanics often work under very poor working conditions.

This is where the wellness day comes in. The wellness focus was deliberate, addressing the unique occupational hazards that mechanics face daily.

Apart from allowing the mechanics to have a day off their routine to engage in healthy competition, including football, darts, pool and snooker, Vivo Energy Kenya together with Equity Afya offered free medical screenings to mechanics and their family members, including blood pressure, diabetes, eye screening and general consultations, alongside health education on workplace safety and ergonomics.

Ezra Omwancha of Equity Afya, who partnered in the event, said the profession takes a heavy physical toll.

“Mechanics often work long hours in confined spaces, lift heavy equipment, and are regularly exposed to physically demanding conditions. Through this initiative, we are providing free health screening and related medical services to help ensure they remain healthy and able to continue supporting Kenya’s transport and agricultural sectors,” Omwancha said.

The day closed with an awards ceremony recognising winners of the sporting competitions, giving the event a celebratory finish that reinforced the sense of camaraderie Vivo Energy Kenya said it hoped to build within the profession.

Beyond the annual event, Vivo Energy Kenya said it continues to support mechanics through its Shell Lubricants platform via technical training, product knowledge sessions, safety education and access to quality lubrication solutions** aimed at helping workshops improve service quality and build customer trust.

The company said these efforts reflect a broader vision of investing in the people who underpin Kenya’s mobility ecosystem, viewing that investment as inseparable from the country’s wider economic growth.

With over 4,200 retail petrol stations in 29 African markets, the company has committed to promoting the mobility ecosystem through technical support to mechanics, advisory services on products such as lubricants, and safety awareness to enhance customer care.

These services have a huge bearing on the wider economy as mechanics are often consultants to ordinary motorists and farmers.

A roadside mechanic I spoke to in Eldoret noted that a casual motorist’s choice of oil often determines how fast his vehicle will deteriorate.

“The same applies to farmers. For instance, a 90 kg bag of maize will cost a farmer about 350 shillings to transport from Eldoret to Nairobi when using standard oil. The amount jumps to almost 500 Shs if the oil used is counterfeit. By implication, every consumer is being charged more due to cheap, substandard spares and oil,” said the mechanic.

A similar argument can be made for the maintenance schedules that mechanics recommend to farmers. With the cost of cultivating a hectare of maize using tractors at 200,000 Shs, farmers will be unable to profit from their investments if they spend significantly higher amounts on maintenance, for instance, due to fake oil.

A thriving mechanic market, therefore, helps lower the costs of farming and by extension, the prices of most goods and services in the country.

The Human Chain

But what stood out in this week’s event was the human chain that makes up these mechanics.

“Am 34 years old and have three apprentice learners with me. Most of them completed Form Four and could not afford to go to college. They start by learning diagnosis before progressing to electrical wiring and later engine servicing. After two years, they will be on their own and take in another two learners,” said 34-year-old Kipkemoi Rono as he showed me around his garage.

This is an informal technical vocational education and training (TVET) system that has produced many of the mechanics in the North Rift.

While many young people go to formal institutions and emerge as engineers, few are able to practice mechanical engineering because of the costs involved.

Mr Rono and his peers have filled this skills gap by producing competent mechanics who can handle both 1998-model Isuzu FH trucks and 2024 John Deere tractors.

It is this human resource that enables farmers to plant and harvest simultaneously as is the case with most commercial farms in the county.

With Kenya’s mobility ecosystem embracing cleaner technologies and more efficient machinery, including electric motorcycles, tractors and buses, the mechanics’ skills will have to be upgraded consistently to keep up with the new demands.

While the wellness day will be remembered by many mechanics for the darts and football tournaments, the message by Mr Gikonyo in his opening remarks about investing in Kenya’s mobility manpower holds true.

“As we celebrate the people behind Kenya’s mobility ecosystem, Vivo Energy Kenya wishes to invest in the people who make it all possible,” said Mr. Gikonyo before the tournament.

Indeed, as the music dies down, the mechanics have already resumed their duties along the Northern Bypass as traders, farmers and traders keep the county’s food basket moving.

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