New York Stock Exchange-listed agriculture company, Corteva Agriscience has launched its regional operations in Nairobi. Corteva also named Nairobi the regional hub for Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (ECSA) countries, comprising of Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
According to media reports, the company is positioning itself to provide seed, crop protection and digital solutions to address the recurring problem of food insecurity in the region by investing in the agricultural value supply chain.
The Corteva Agriscience Country Lead for Kenya and the Great Lakes Region Mr. Humphrey Kiruaye said that the launch will change and completely disrupt the agricultural sector not only in Kenya but in the region. He further added that the company, with its global affiliation and its partners, was well positioned to provide sustainable solutions to the challenges facing the small-scale farming sector in Kenya.
In doing this, the firm will work closely with the Kenya Government institutions, research institutions, as well as the academia to harness expertise that would assist the small-scale farmer maximize on his land in line with the food security pillar in the Kenya Government Big Four Agenda.
According to Kiruaye, Corteva would principally address the problem of low productivity per unit area facing the grains small scale sector in Kenya, which has been found to not only be the lowest in the region but in Sub Saharan Africa as well: Kenya’s small-scale farmers produce an average of 1.5 metric tonnes per hectare compared to Ethiopia with 5 metric tonnes and Zambia with 4 metric tonnes respectively.
Corteva, Kiruaye noted, will deploy the latest technology in farming and leverage on extension services and digital platforms to disseminate information to farmers throughout the country in order to reduce the post -harvest losses in Kenya which currently stood at over 40 per cent.
Corteva was born out of the merger between international chemical manufacturer Dow Chemical Company and DuPont to form DowDuPont (NYSE: DWDP) which created three separate publicly traded companies in agriculture, materials science and specialty products sectors that will lead their respective industries through productive, science-based innovation to meet the needs of customers and help solve global challenges.
In Africa and Middle East, Corteva Agriscience™ brings together DuPont Crop Protection, DuPont Pioneer, PANNAR and Dow AgroSciences to create a market shaping, standalone agriculture company with leading positions in seed technologies, crop protection and digital agriculture.
