Testing of soybean and sorghum Kenia

Introduction of soybean and sorghum in addition to maize, which will be distributed to farmers on credit together with fertilisers.

Goal

Introduction of soybean and sorghum in addition to maize, which will be distributed to farmers on credit together with fertilizers.

Partner

ICS, founded in 1980, focused on emergency relief, care for children and support for farmers.

Local partner

Agrics for the organisation of credit, supply of materials and education for farmers.

Location

Kakamega, 300 km northwest of Nairobi

Updates

January 2021:  Closing Project Agrics Kenya

At the end of 2018 we wrote about Seed4Farmers' visit to Agrics in Kenya. In March 2019, the project report was published, containing some important lessons around the introduction of the new crops soybean and sorghum. It showed that introducing new crops requires a long haul. The project period of 1 season turned out to be too short to achieve good harvest results (the harvested quantities remained below expectations) and also the link with the market (customers) turned out to be more difficult than expected, which led to a lower increase in income for the farmers than hoped. Nevertheless, Agrics decided to include the new crops in its product range and to continue setting up demo fields and looking for commercial buyers.  

However, in the second half of 2019 it became apparent that Agrics was in dire straits and at the end of 2019 Agrics unfortunately had to cease operations in Kenya. The managing director of Agrics explains: "The road is long and difficult when working in rural Africa. Agrics' customers are small, vulnerable and difficult to reach. We work in countries with years of drought, pests, the occasional year of election violence. Qualified personnel is hard to find, especially if you work outside the big cities. And you have to deal with structural corruption and political influence. Agrics came very close, with growth and near-profitability in 2018. A downturn in 2019 made the risk too great for investors, and all in all, the start-up losses were too much of a good thing. The biggest underlying cause remains that it is very difficult to set up a profitable business in Africa." 

Agrics has tried to complete everything as best as possible, including paying salaries and outstanding balances such as holiday allowances to departing staff and paying off local creditors. The former customers of Agrics can turn to Agrics' former competitor One Acre Fund, an international organisation that also provides agricultural inputs and training on credit. 

January 2019: Visit Agrics project in Kenya

Two representatives of Seed4Farmers visited our partner Agrics in Kakamega in Western Kenya in October 2018. Employees of Agrics explained their working method in providing seeds, fertilizer and other products on credit. We visited a number of female farmers and a few male farmers to see how their crops are grown. Besides the main crop, maize, they also grow potatoes, beans, pumpkins and all kinds of local fruits and vegetables. In the yard, there are usually chickens, one or more cows and pigs. Most farmers grow the crops on a small area for their own use.  

S4F made a donation to enable the introduction of new crops. Therefore, we visited the fields with the new crops sorghum and soybeans. When growing soybeans, we also saw larger fields of 1/4 hectare.  

It is a great advantage that Agrics has made a contract with the farmers with a minimum price and guaranteed purchase. A report with the results of the project is expected in February 2019. There are all kinds of possibilities to provide substantive support to Agrics, but this is still being worked out. 

August 2018: First project with ICS

After discussions with several organisations, Seed4Farmers has signed an agreement with ICS for our first project. ICS has experience in selling certified seeds and fertilizer on credit to poor farmers since 2012. As a result, 20,000 families in Kenya around Kakamega were able to improve their living standards last year. For the executive tasks, ICS has set up the local company Agrics. Agrics must be able to manage on its own in 2020 with the basic product package, which mainly consists of: maize, fertiliser, cultivation advice and extra products such as solar lights. For new products, ICS would like to cooperate with S4F. With the donation for the first project, the cultivation of sorghum and soy can be tested with 900 additional farmers in the 'short rainy season' from September to November. Meanwhile, we will investigate together how we can deepen the cooperation in terms of content.