KENYA – Corteva Agriscience, an agriculture solutions provider based in the United States has officially launched its regional operations in Kenya as it continues to expand its market reach and contribute to growth of the region’s agriculture sector.
Corteva was born out of the merger between International chemical manufacturer Dow Chemical Company and DuPont to form DowDuPont which created three separate publicly traded companies in agriculture, materials science and specialty products involved in 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
According to Mr Humphrey Kiruaye, Corteva Agriscience Country Lead for Kenya and the Great Lakes Region, Corteva, with its global affiliation and its partners, is well positioned to provide sustainable solutions to the challenges facing the small-scale farming sector in Kenya.
In doing this, the firm would work closely with Government institutions, research institutions, and the academia to harness expertise that would assist the small-scale farmers maximise on their land in line with the food security pillar in the Big Four Agenda.
The US firm will deploy cutting edge farming technology and leverage on extension services and digital platforms to disseminate information to farmers throughout Kenya in order to reduce the post -harvest losses in Kenya which currently stands at over 40%.
United States Ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter, added that Corteva would principally address the problem of low productivity per unit area facing the grains small scale sector in Kenya, which he said was the lowest in region and in Sub Sahara Africa.
Figures indicate that 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 has also entered into partnerships with several companies and institutions across Africa including, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in Ethiopia, Flour Mills of Nigeria and Zimbabwe’s valley seeds all aimed at bolstering growth in the agriculture sector.
