The Organic Business Summit -Post Event Notes
Accessing markets and building viable consumer bases are a major challenge for all business ventures and the Organic Agriculture Industry is no exception to such realities. It has been our experience that to have any worthwhile business relationship, it is pertinent that all value chain actors from farmers, traders, processors and retailers (not forgetting supporting actors such as certifiers, government and non-governmental actors, inputs suppliers among others) work collaboratively. Collaboration fosters trust and allows players to identify, explore and actualize business opportunities.
The Business Summit was able to outline some areas of interest and to present compelling arguments of why the Organic Agriculture Sector in Kenya is ripe for the picking.
With such a rich pool of stakeholders represented we hope that the event will ignite the spark of collaboration among Organic Agriculture Sector players.
From the Summit Three Thematic areas of interest were identified for collaborative pursuit;
- Organic Vegetables and Fruits for Local Market
- Organic Fruit for Export
- Organic Herbs and Spices
The Business Summit was the just a 1st Step in many to, discussions in the various thematic groups have already commenced with many actors already moving forward in identifying opportunities.
In order to coordinate these collaborations WhatsApp groups have been set up based on the Thematic Groups(TG).
The groups are being coordinated as follows;
| Thematic Group | Facilitator | ||
| 1 | Organic Vegetables and Fruits for Local Market | Martin Njoroge | |
| 2 | Organic Fruit for Export | Clement Adongo
Lawrence Gitonga |
|
| 3 | Organic Herbs and Spices | Emma Njoki |
One has to be an interested party to participate in any of the above group and must offer some value to the discussions being held. The main purpose of the groups is to explore business opportunities that must Benefit Farmers in Murang’a County.
Contact Martin Njoroge – 0725 295 437 for more information.
If you missed the summit
HERE ARE
Kikuyu Organic Farmer’s Market -Mugumo Hotel Kikuyu
Residents of Kikuyu, Ndenderu, Sigona all the way to Limuru, you can now get ready access to Organic Food from the Kikuyu Organic Farmers market. The farmers are residents of Ondiri and Regen area where if you talk to them nicely will be able to organise basket deliveries and other value adds.
VENUE : MUGUMO PARK KIKUYU TOWN
DATE: 12TH DEC 2020 (INAUGURAL LAUNCH)
TIME: 9.00AM-1.00PM
Hosted by Ondiri Organic Farmers Group.
ORGANIC BUSINESS SUMMIT: DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS FOR NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
DATE: 3RD DECEMBER 2020
TIME: 8:30 AM- 1.00PM
EVENT TYPE: Invite Only
ORGANIZERS : KOAN , KALRO , FIBL, AFRICROPS LTD, OACK
The Kenya Organic Agriculture Network (KOAN) together with its partners will be hosting a first of kind organic industry business event on Thursday, 3rd December 2020 (9.00am) via Zoom platform . The Organic industry is the fastest growing subsector in agriculture globally, trading billions of dollars’ worth of products annually. This global trend is gaining pace in Kenya with people seeking healthy food amidst the Covid19 pandemic and food safety lapses in local food supply come to light. A burgeoning middleclass is fast becoming picky with food and export markets are becoming increasingly critical on sustainability, carbon emissions and pesticide residues.
The Kenya Organic Agriculture Network has been an industry leader making meaningful business linkages within the organic space. KOAN has assisted notable companies with strategic and much needed advisory and farmer linkage services that have led to millions of dollars’ worth of trade both locally and for export to date. In a bid to rapidly expand the organic space, KOAN has partnered up with the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Africrops Limited, the Organic Agriculture Centre of Kenya (OACK) among other organizations to foster organic market development by focusing on both the domestic and export market.
The Organic Business Summit is an invite only event to present an organic sector survey implemented in Kenya during 2020, and to move ahead in jointly exploring organic business opportunities for the local and export market particularly focusing on organic products originating from Murang’a County. The County has some of the most pristine and prime land with the highest number of organic farmers in Kenya supplying fresh fruits and vegetables. The county has great potential for both local and export markets.
Latest date to sign up for the event is 27th November 2020.
Resources
