Transforming Agriculture into Business

During his tours in the country, Yariv Kedar learned that more than four million people were facing starvation in Kenya, he was surprised, as the country should be agriculturally rich and food secure.

“I met farmers who applied chemicals with leaves. They had no proper tools, used poor quality seeds and fertilisers, and did agriculture for the sake of it,” Yariv recalls.

At the time, Yariv had just arrived from Brazil where he had worked with Makhteshim Agan in various capacities, the last being as the global herbal portfolio development director.

Yariv resolved to introduce new innovations in the agricultural sector and uplift the standards of farming in Kenya; and to develop markets for their produce through Green Rava Israel technologies.

Why Green Arava Technology?
Green Arava Group designs complete systems to suit the client’s needs. The design takes into account the available natural resources in the project area, initial investment, operational costs and desired outputs. The design is done according to the highest international standards incorporating the latest innovations and technology in agriculture. As the Green-Arava group head office is located in Israel, the leading hub for innovation and design of agricultural methods and products, we are in constant touch with the leading agricultural research institutions in Israel and incorporate the latest innovation and trends into our projects.

Galana Kulalu project
Galana Kulalu project has seen the two governments Kenya and Israel establish a working framework on water resource management, technologies, irrigation and capacity building. Based on the Israel expertise in the water sector, the Kenyan side expressed areas of interest and sought assistance and counsel from Israel counter hence coming up with the Mashavcapacity and training on irrigation and drainage programme.

The key mandate of the Galana irrigation project is to move the country from rain-fed agriculture in the wake of climate changes. If well managed the project should see one acre produce 40 bags of maize, higher than the national average of 17 bags that farmers in the country’s grain basket of Rift Valley harvest currently.

Property Reality Company
Property Reality Company (PRC), a real estate property firm in Kenya has worked with Agri Green which to boost its Agribusiness projects as it looks to give Kenyans an opportunity to invest in farming and create employment opportunities.

According to Gacari, PRC CEO and Chairman, the company’s decision to work with the Israeli based company that designs, develops and implements turnkey agricultural projects was advised by Agri Green’s expertise in Agribusiness, making them the ideal partner for the project.

Speaking on the agreement, Green Arava’s Country Manager, Ofir expressed his elation at the unique opportunity that will see more and more Kenyans become urban farmers, through opportunities to invest in Greenhouses within the plots and have them fully managed on their behalf.

“We will adopt the latest farming technology within these plots of land and ensure that investors will gain revenue generation even as the property appreciates. We are delighted to be providing the agronomical support needed for successful harvests,” he said.

The partnership will see Agri Green be responsible for farm management, selection of cash crops to be cultivated, boreholes and storage facilities among other roles. The two partners will also provide market linkages upon harvesting.

Innovative kit
Green Rava has also invented Farmers Kit; a kit that has grown widely popular around the country, including the arid and semi-arid areas, as it offers a complete solution to small scale growers who get to enjoy simplified modern inputs at one go. In addition, the kits come with training and farm support from Green Rava extension Officers.

Changing Africa from the root
Green Rava is also investing in the newest technologies which when well used will also change the farming sector completely. Farmers around the world today suffer the same problem. Input costs keep going up while yields drop. More and more fertilizer is required to get the same outcome. At the rate we are using those available phosphate reserves, it is estimated the world could run out 50-100 years, and soils suffer. The way out is Mycorrhizal Fungi. The newest technology from Green Rava promotes root mass expansion, better soils, nutrient uptake efficiency, drought tolerance, healthier disease tolerance crops and better yields from lower inputs.

Green Rava Travel Gun irrigation System
Traveling gun irrigation is an irrigation machine that consists of wheeled cart with large sprinkler (called “gun”), a chassis with rotating dram and main PE pipe. The wheeled cart with the sprinkler moves slowly on the ground at a controlled speed that has been set by the operator, while the sprinkler is operating, thus applying water to the land. The “Gun” (or “big gun”) is a sprinkler containing a large (>0.5- inch diameter) nozzle and discharging relatively high discharge.

The sprinkler may rotate through a full-circle or may only rotate through a portion (usually 230 to 270 degrees) of the arc.

The main advantage of the Traveling Gun is the rapid and simple installation of the system. The system can be easily towed to any area that needs irrigation and can be put into operation in minutes. It is practically automatic operation with minimal labour requirement. It has a relatively low cost of the system per unit area and reliable operation

Farmers have a wide range of options for the control of the system and have easy change of discharge by changing the nozzles of the sprinkler and change of water depth of application by changing the speed of the gun. It is suitable for odd shapes of fields and flexible to irrigate several different fields with different crops

Conclusion
Yariv believes despite agriculture being the backbone of this country, Kenyan farmers are unable to produce foods like in European countries because most lack adequate knowledge, know-how and high quality inputs such as seeds, irrigation systems and fertilisers. This is where Green Rava will thrive.