Cultivating Excellence

Lessons from Australian soils

In 2009, a group of Kenyan farmers were seeking a future-proof model for dryland agriculture. They travelled to the similarly semi-arid climate of Australia to learn from growers there and returned with an answer: Conservation agriculture. This revelation instantly inspired them to set about transforming their homeland’s agricultural industry.

A new future for Kenyan farmers

Together, they set up Agventure Ltd in the Great Rift Valley, home to one of Kenya’s most spectacular lake systems and wildlife habitats. By promoting crop diversification and environmentally friendly practices, they are improving farming systems’ resilience and productivity. Today, the business trades US$ 5-7 million of inputs, sells 45,000MT of cereals and processes over 11,000T of oilseeds every year.

Giles Littlewood, the Company’s COO, sees empowering a new wave of farmers as central to his organization’s purpose. “I firmly believe that conservation agriculture is the biggest positive change in Kenyan farming since the introduction of the tractor,” he says. “We are trying to show farmers what to do and not to do. We have an opportunity to make a positive difference to hundreds of thousands of small and medium scale growers”.

Four-season harvest 

With approximately 98% of Kenya’s agricultural cultivation dependent on rain, Giles and his team realised that adopting the Australian method of broadacre cropping and optimising soil health were vital for an economically and environmentally sustainable system. The results are clear: through combining crop rotation with no-tillage practice, Agventure farmers are achieving higher production efficiency and consistency season after season. “The farms are now profitable even in seasons that would previously have been total crop failures due to drought,” says Giles.

UPL has played an important role in Agventure’s success story. From resilient and affordable canola seeds to protective and curative fungicide sprays such as Evito T, farmers have reaped the benefits of UPL’s suite of inputs through improved plant and soil health since 2015.

Ever-growing ambitions

In addition to setting up the Centre of Excellence for Crop Protection, which teaches thousands of farmers to adopt their tried and tested sustainable practices, Agventure has also launched a new high-quality seed company and will soon be unveiling a state-of-the-art maize seed cleaning facility. But while Agventure’s ambitions continue to flourish, its dedication to conservational agriculture remains undiminished. “Our entire farming ethos is built around sustainability and making the land better each year,” says Giles.