role that agriculture continues to play now and in the future.
Bio On Fred
Covid has also challenged previously held beliefs regarding work
and location of work. Office will have a role to play but we have
proven through the pandemic that productivity should not be
affected by physical location. We have successfully continued
delivering our services effectively whilst working remotely.
There has been a big shift to digital platforms to connect with
farmers. I believe this will continue. With more people leveraging
digital solutions, there is bound to be a lower cost of accessing
data. I expect that this shift will remain requiring organizations to
make the digital solutions a core part of market access.
There is a shift in the economy to encourage more local
production and self-sufficiency. This pandemic
has reminded us on the need to Buy Kenya,
Build Kenya. For instance, if we did not build
production capacity for PPE we would still be
waiting to get PPE imported. Therefore, would
have lost the opportunity to buy Kenyan made
products. The same goes for food security.
We need to build systems that support the
acceleration of food security including access
to markets.
Every year we experience major wastage
of post-harvest produce either because
of poor market access or lack of proper
storage for produce. We need to grow
local demand for local produce. There
are many crop value chains that we have
potential to produce locally that are not
yet well developed from the market
perspective. This is an area that is an
opportunity for collaboration.
Agriculture is the engine
that drives the economy.
What are your views
on this postulation
Agriculture is indeed the foundation of economic growth.
I could write a whole thesis on the importance of agriculture
to the economy, but I hope it would be sufficient to share a
few observations with you: Agriculture provides food and
nutrition. It is said that a healthy nation creates a working
nation. Availability of quality and affordable food is a critical
building block to economic success. Agriculture is linked to
health because good nutrition ensures that the population is not
affected by opportunistic diseases. A nation that is ravaged by
famine ends up being burdened by higher demands on the health
system. Therefore, we need to ensure that we support agriculture
even more strongly as a foundation for increasing national
productivity.
Secondly Agriculture provides employment for estimated 80%
of the workforce. The sector has already shown the capacity to be
a sector that provides a large base for job creation. We need to
ensure we support the sector to employ even more people. With
a focus on value addition of agricultural produce the opportunity
to grow jobs is even higher.
East African economies depend on agriculture as a source of
foreign exchange earnings. Our export of flowers, horticulture,
fruits, tea and coffee play a big part in improving our economic
position in the country. This underpins the balance that
agriculture plays to ensure our economies are strong.
Agriculture provides the input into other sectors of the economy.
Agricultural produce is the input for manufacturing which in
turn value adds the base produce. Many industries get input from
agriculture. Hence, if we do not manage our cost of production at
the agricultural level we risk much higher production costs and
consequently negative impact on economic growth.
I tend to think that we are still not yet doing enough to truly
transform agriculture for economic development. The true
measure of success is, when we have improved farmers economic
circumstances, they in turn will be able to afford other goods and
services that the economy generates, creating a cycle of economic
boom.
Tell us about yourself. How did you get
started off in your profession, what has
been your career progression path, what
interesting challenges have you faced in
your journey? What are among the best
lessons you have learned about business
and industry that you can share?
I’ve been fortunate to have a fantastic
career that has spanned over 2 decades
so far and I am still journeying on in
my current role as the leader of the East
Africa business at Syngenta. I’ve enjoyed
my career progression immensely. For
the sake of space, I’ll share just a few
highlights that may help inspire others
who are seeking to shape their careers.
I shall focus on some of the lessons I’ve
learnt and use them as a construct to share
my journey. In any case many people have
access to LinkedIn if they were interested
in finer details of my person.
I am a marketing and business professional
having studied at the University of
Nairobi. I am passionate about business.
Business cuts across all ventures we
undertake, because exchange of value
is achieved through commerce. I learnt
early on that the skills that I gained in my
Bachelor of Commerce class transcend all
industries and can be applied everywhere.
I enjoy marketing and business. Through
marketing organizations deliver value to
consumers and in exchange organizations
can make a profit.
The key lesson from the choices I made
at school; it is important to do what you
love. To paraphrase Mark Twain “Find
what you enjoy doing, and you will never
have to work a day in your life.” I had
many thoughts on what I wanted to do
in life. Once I zeroed down on business
as my future, I gave it my best. Since I
was enjoying it was not an arduous task.
I ensured I continued to expand my
knowledge in marketing and business by
undertaking post graduate studies as well
as gaining a qualification in accounting.
I was fortunate to meet different people
along the journey who supported me in my
career growth. I can point to people who
gave me an ear or a chance that helped
me grow. Some were my managers, others
business leaders and mentors. There were
people who helped me without knowing,
because they felt the passion I had for
marketing. I had to reach out to all these
people to seek help in order to receive it.
I very clearly recall how I met a friend
who informed me of an opportunity
at General Motors. I pitched in for
the position leveraging on skills I had
acquired in previous roles. That is how I
ended up joining General Motors where
I worked for almost 5 years. At General
Motors, I sharpened my marketing skills
which formed a solid foundation to my
marketing career. I suppose the lessons
here for me are that people matter as they
are the networks that help us to build
our careers. In the same way that people
took a chance on me along my career, I
also remember to take a chance on people.
This lesson has remained true throughout
my career experience since my internship
at Ogilvy & Mather, through my time
at Diageo/EABL to my experience at
Syngenta today.
I thrive in learning new things and having
new experiences. This required me to be
bold in seeking unique opportunities and
equally required me to be versatile and
adaptable. My career provided excellent
opportunities to push boundaries and
grow my experience in different areas.
General Motors was excellent in enabling
me experience different roles within the
relatively short span. The coverage for
General Motors was East Africa wide
giving me a good opportunity to learn the
cultural diversity and an understanding
of how we drive our business within the
region.
This theme continued when I joined
Diageo/EABL as a brand manager. I had
the fortune to work in Kenya, Uganda and
Indonesia, growing up the ranks while
expanding my international experience.
I also undertook an Africa regional role
for 1 year, to develop new innovations
in spirits and ready-to-drink (RTD)
categories.
I like the quote by Roosevelt, “Calm seas
never made a skillful sailor.” It is this
spirit that spurred me to seek roles that
stretch me out of my comfort zone and
inspired me to spend a few years leading
innovations at EABL. I was privileged
to have launched several brands that
still deliver growth for Diageo today.
Innovation is stretching because in order
to bring a new product to the market,
there are many difficulties that must be
overcome. On the other hand, Innovation
provide a great opportunity to appreciate
the end-to-end aspects of running a
business. This experience prepared me for
my shift to general management.
Multicultural experience is an important
ingredient for leadership today. In a global
environment where factors affecting
business are not just localized, having
a multicultural lens helps leaders see
opportunities and challenges in multiple
ways. I found that working in East Africa
and Indonesia, getting to experience
different cultures helped me to learn
how to work with people of a different
background and to inspire them to
achieve results for the business. Working
in Indonesia for instance helped me focus
my team on common goals and sharpened
my intuition on the cultural differences
that may hamper attainment of the set
goals. That period also helped me reflects
on how my cultural orientation affects my
leadership approach.
I am proud and privileged to be working
at Syngenta. It was a great opportunity
to lead the business to a greater level in
a sector that was completely new to me.
I am privileged to be working with very
highly skilled people in this industry
who are passionate about making a
difference in the society. I have learnt
that it is important to work for a business
that has a purpose that is in line with
my purpose. This allows me to exert my
energy and intellect in a way that makes
a meaningful difference to the society and
the world at large. While I’ve worked in
other organizations that also have clear
purpose, I am particularly energized by
the impact that Syngenta is making in
the agricultural sector and I can see on a
day by day, how our purpose is changing
fortunes for Kenyan farmers.
This perfectly dove tails to the conversation
we have already had on how Syngenta
is helping farmers in Kenya and our
aspiration for the growth of agriculture as
a key component of economic growth.
As a parting shot, I would like to urge
young people to consider building careers
in the agriculture sector and engaging in
farming. This is a critical sector that needs
our collective participation. When you
grow a crop to produce food, you gain a
renewed appreciation for what farmers
who do this every day go through.
In conclusion, ponder this quote from
Mark Twain as you shape your career
journey; “Twenty years from now you will
be more disappointed by the things that
you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.
So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from
the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in
your sails. Explore! Dream! Discover!”
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