East Africa, my team and I ensure that
the solutions we recommend are best
suited to our market. We collaborate with
the best scientists globally to develop
solutions that best suit us. We actively
participate in product development by
trialing products that are in development,
eventually leading to registration of the
products that have been certified to fit
our market.
We have a fantastic pipeline of new
products in our future offers. I can say that
we remain committed in getting farmers
the very best solutions and our planned
innovation pipeline will delight them.
Farmers have come to trust the solutions
Syngenta brings and our commitment is
that we shall continue bringing the best
solutions into the future.
What is your unique value
proposition?
Syngenta is the global leader in our
category of products. Therefore, we
deliver the best technologies to farmers.
This is something that we remain focused
on and passionate about. In addition, we
have highly qualified field teams that
help our farmers update their agronomy
practices. By upskilling farmers, they
appreciate the role that our technology
delivers and in turn they get to increase
their yields. I also mentioned our focus on
innovation, this is innovation at a product
level but also technologies that will shape
the future of agriculture. We bring to
farmers knowledge on digital agriculture
and precision farming that will further
improve their yields. We seek to create
win-win relationships because these are
sustainable and put our customers at the
heart of what we do. In a nutshell, with
Syngenta you can be sure you are getting
worldclass technology and worldclass
service that is suited to the local needs.
Who is your direct target
market? What is your
typical route to market
like?
Syngenta works with the wide network
of distributors and agrovet outlets across
the region with the aim of delivering
solutions to farmers. At the end of the
day, what we do at Syngenta comes to life
at the farm.
Not many people realize how precise
farming is, because in farming time is
of essence. For instance, planting late,
weeding late or even harvesting late
means reduced yields. In the same way, the
farmer needs to apply their crop protection
products at the right time. Delays can
completely wipe out the crop. Hence, the
network of Agrovets help us be at arm’s
length to the farmer, so that he or she gets
the solution when they need it.
We work directly with both large scale
and small holder farmers. We have
Syngenta field advisors who are qualified
agronomists who support the farmers at
every stage. Our product range cuts across
a variety of crops, from staples such as
maize, rice and potatoes, to vegetables,
cereals and ornamental crops such as
flowers and lawns. You can be sure that
if it is something that is being grown,
Syngenta has a role to play.
How do you involve your
key market in infusing more
value in your solutions
to their challenges? How
would you rate your product
uptake?
Syngenta is the market leader in crop
protection globally and in the East Africa
region. We believe that this is testament
of the trust we have earned over the years.
Farming is not a game of chances. A
failed crop has significant impact on the
livelihoods of many families. Many crops
provide harvest opportunities either once a
year or twice a year. Therefore, it is critical
that we help farmers get the most of their
land because failing to do that means a
family will be unable to meet their needs
for a year.
This is the reason that agriculture is very
closely related to poverty alleviation.
Agriculture employs about 80% of the
working population in East Africa.
Therefore, very intricately connected to
the GDP growth in the region. Last year
when the region was affected by drought,
it resulted in reduced growth of GDP. For
instance, GDP for the first half of 2019 was
impacted by -1% from initial projection of
6.5% to about 5.6% according to World
Bank figures.
While we are proud of the trust that
farmers have bestowed us enabling us to
be leaders, we believe in collaborating with
them continuously in order to update and
revise our product range and to ensure we
have the most competitive and effective
range of products in the market.
What key challenges do
you face as an organization
in fulfilling your set goals?
What in your view would
give you more impetus to in
delivering on your mandate?
The world is never short of new challenges
such as the Covid-19 Pandemic. There
are several challenges that we must
navigate, however I would like to indicate
3 challenges as I cannot enumerate all in
this interview. Firstly, climate change is
a huge challenge to farmers globally and
specifically in this region. More than 98%
of all agriculture in the region depends
on rainfall. Therefore, uncertainties in the
weather will continue to affect agriculture.
Recently you have seen reports of drought
in early 2019 and excess rains this year that
has resulted in flooding in some parts of
Kenya and Uganda. Climate change poses
an opportunity to increase the proportion
of irrigated farmlands. We are fortunate to
have a good number of permanent rivers
that we can tap to provide irrigation.
Secondly, farmers need capital to take
up new technology. In order to invest in
irrigation systems and use the technology
that Syngenta provides, there is need to
ensure the farmers can secure funding. This
is an area that has gained some traction
recently but still far from what ideal should
be. There has been more growth in Kenya
regarding access to funding in comparison
to other countries in the region. Whilst
governments are making steps to improve
the situation, we need accelerated efforts
here working with banks and fintechs.
The third area that I feel remain critical
is knowledge transfer to farmers. The
previously established systems through
use of extension services has collapsed.
Basically, extension services are still
inadequately funded in the region.
Therefore, many farmers lack information
on good agronomic practices. There are
many organizations that have come in to
fill this gap, but we are still far from where
we should be. Without proper knowledge,
farmers are not able to improve their
farming practices and eventually help
them shift from subsistence farming to
farming as a business. Current agronomy
knowledge will enable farmers to embrace
the use of new technology and its role in
improving their economic circumstances.
At Syngenta, we believe in looking at
challenges as opportunities, therefore
we engage activities that seek to support
farmers manage the risks they face. To
give a few examples, in the area of climate
change, we have developed satellitebased
technology to monitor impact of
climate change and compensate farmers
in the event of adverse conditions. In the
area of access to capital, we partner with
banks and fintechs to get these solutions
to farmers. We have over the past 4
years been running a financing program
dubbed ‘Mavuno Zaidi’ targeting potato
and tomato farmers.
Lastly, we have a global program, the
Good Growth Plan that provides
training for farmers on good agricultural
practices. In this region, we have trained
over 120,000 farmers. We shall continue
to play our part in improving farming
practice and plan to accelerate this impact
when we launch our new 5 year plan on
the Good Growth Plan later this year.
As a corporate citizen how
do you interface with other
corporates in the Kenyan
business ecosystem? How
do you tap into their muscle
in helping drive your
vision?
Syngenta is a member of the key industry
bodies that represent the interests of
corporates in Kenya. We are members
of Croplife Kenya/Agrochemical
Association of Kenya (AAK), Kenya
Association of Manufacturers (KAM),
Seed Trade Association of Kenya (STAK)
and KEPSA to name a few. Through
these associations Syngenta inputs into
the wider business agenda for Kenya.
We believe that improvement in the
overall business ecosystem, leads to
improvements in the overall economy.
We are also actively involved in the
technical advisory elements that touch
on agriculture and food security. The
government has clearly called out food
security as a specific priority area of
development. In this agenda, we have
a direct stake and opportunity to shape
and support the government achieve its
goals. As indicated earlier, our goals are
in line with the government agenda. By
providing our solutions to farmers we are
also directly supporting food security for
the region.
What is Syngenta’s role in
the journey to ensure the
dream of achieving food
security is realized? Do
you share your technical
prowess in positive policy
formulation with relevant
government arms?
We collaborate very closely with the
government bodies and the Ministry
of Agriculture to advance these goals.
For example, we have worked with the
government to provide technology to
control FAW which was threatening
the maize yields. In addition, we have
continuous consultations on emerging
issues such as Locust control to ensure we
support the governments agenda.
How do you interface with
the government both at
national and county levels?
We are involved in helping both the
Kenya National Government and County
Governments, providing solutions
for farmers through various programs
at national and county levels. Since
agriculture is a devolved function, we
collaborate at a county level with the
county Ministry of Agriculture. We are
always seeking even more collaboration
opportunities because we acknowledge
that the task to transform agriculture
requires all of us to do the best that we
can. The success of food security will be
success for the whole country to create
a strong and healthy workforce in the
region.
How have you rewired
your team engagement
to guarantee your brand
promise is sustained amid
the pandemic as you ensure
their safety and that of
your customers?
Covid-19 is an unprecedented pandemic
in many ways. Due to Covid, we have
experienced something that for the first
time affected the whole world at the
same time. This is a first for many in
this generation. We have had to adjust a
number of our operations as a result of
the pandemic and so far are pleased by
the outcomes we have achieved. Firstly,
it is important that the government
identified agriculture as an essential
service. This has helped the industry to
continue transacting and supporting
farmers. It would have been disastrous if
we had shut down agriculture, because
we could be facing the dual risk of Covid
as well as an impending famine. We have
had to support distributors and retailers
to continue accessing our products and
helped them to supply these products to
farmers.
Secondly, we had to adjust our marketing
activities to reach farmers in a different
way. Previously we focused on bringing
farmers to see demonstration farms
and through practical evaluation of our
products. Due to social distance rules,
we have had to increase the use of digital
means to access farmers and promote
our products. During this period the
safety of our staff and customers has been
paramount. Therefore, we have had to
secure PPE and sanitizers for our teams
and actively disseminate information to
help our customers manage themselves
through this storm. Most importantly, we
have collaborated with our customers to
continue doing business and ensure the
farmer receives the products on time.
Generally how has the
Covid-19 pandemic
impacted your operations?
Do you see more
opportunities in the mix?
How do you intend to ride
on this to give more value
in view of the changed
landscape? Any unique
lessons from where you sit?
Covid-19 I believe will be an inflection
point when we look back at history. While
I am confident we shall overcome the
pandemic, it has raised conversations on
the fundamentals of our economy. There
are other operational elements that will be
permanently disrupted by Covid.
The importance of agriculture and food
security has been highlighted. As a result
of the pandemic, the number 1 need that
people have is the need for food. The
same is the case globally. Reports from
other parts of the world clearly indicate
this to be the situation in developing and
developed economies alike. Therefore, it
is a clear indicator that people will need
food. The need for food shows the firm
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