Agripreneurship

1. Agripreneurship Opportunities through Innovation

2. Agripreneurship is being hailed as the new solution to unemployment and food insecurity-But the word Entrepreneurship simply means:“Between Jobs”

3. Agripreneurship ? • Taking farming as a serious business • Looking at farming with an eye of an investor • Creating sustainable business of agri-commodities (goods & services) • Opportunity to set up small industries • Allowing participation of rural populations • Being innovative to increase efficiency

4. Crucial Factors: Emergence of opportunities The individual needs to identify an opportunity: - How does the future entrepreneur get to know about an opportunity? The opportunity needs to be accessible to the individual: - Many agripreneurs get started because they are forced to take up something to survive while having nothing to invest. The opportunity is then something that can be materialized with whatever little the entrepreneur has (network, skill, location, independence, mobility…) The opportunity must have enough support through infrastructure - The agripreneur depends on other players in the sector to provide crucial services/goods

5. The Entrepreneurial Spirit – Another factor which is quite significant • Creativity : able to come up with a new or unique product /service • Confidence: trusting in their own abilities and willing to actively adopt new techniques and technologies to get ahead even at the expense of being ridiculed by others • Risk Taking & Business Savvy: motivated by profit and skilled at identifying a lucrative niche in the market that can be exploited for profit. • Self determination: going the extra mile and willing to overcome barriers

6. The Problem? - An estimated 80% of Kenya farmers are over 55 years • While 65% of the population is below 35 years Agripreneurshipneeds energetic, creative, informed , determined individuals.How likely are we to find them among the Kenyan farmers of retirement age? How can we involve Youth in Agriculture and Agripreneurship successfully?

7. Lord, give me a reason to get up in the morning! You are poor! That is reason enough!

8. Youth are the ideal target – But are they really? • To most educated Youths it seems more attractive to get a job and • lead a city life • How can Youths handle the risk of organizing inputs and finance? • Would Youths be forthcoming to start a business on their own in • the face of the never ending challenges of being an agripreneur? • Youth are natural risk takers, but can they survive in a business • that depends greatly on nature’s willingness to cooperate? Wouldn’t it be great if Youths became agripreneurs not out of poverty and desperation but out of a position of strength and power?

9. Agripreneurship depends on the cooperation of 3 sectors: The Primary Sector – produces goods/produce on which the other two sectors are based The secondary Sector – manufactures, fabricates, constructs & designs to facilitate the other two sectors The tertiary Sector – provides infrastructural support for the two other sectors All four sectors are interdependent to successfully exist and develop!

10. And who is SoilCares? SoilCares is a start-up company itself. SoilCares found its niche in the tertiary sector providing crucial information and advice to small holder farmers. In 2011 it started developing a new technology to provide faster, cheaper and more accessible soil analysis to small holder farmers. In 2013 SoilCares build its first mobile laboratory using spectral analysis. Since then SoilCares has revolutionized the approach to soil analysis. In 2016 SoilCares will offer handheld soil scanners to young agripreneurs.

11. What is spectral analysis? You better see for yourself!

12. Which of these two soils has the higher organic matter content?

13. Which of these two soils has the higher clay content?

14. What did you just do? You used your eyes as a sensor! • You used your eyes as a sensor for the visible light range of the electromagnetic spectrum • Your sensor (eye) determines differences in colour, structure and shape • Your brain contains a calibration set  enables you to translate the information received from your sensor (eye) into soil characteristics • A specialist has a larger calibration set and is able to estimate/quantify the % organic matter, clay content etc.

15. The electromagnetic spectrum

16. How to extract information from this?

17. You need a calibration data set! The SoilCares Golden Standard Laboratory Statistical modelling techniques are used to find relationships between sensor data and soil parameters Accuracy levels are monitored to meet the highest standards

18. The SoilCares Mobile Laboratory Fast, Accessible, Affordable, Understandable, Personal, Enabling (Franchise!)

19. What do we analyse? With IR spectroscopy: pH Organic carbon Clay Sand Silt CEC Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium Calcium Magnesium With xrf-spectroscopy: Inorganic carbon Sulfur Sodium Boron Zinc Iron Manganese Aluminium Copper Molybdenum Selenium • The system creates an automated field and crop specific advice regarding: • - ph (lime application) • - CEC (compost application) • and nutrient status (fertilizer application) • For over 60 different crops

20. What else do we do? Geo-referenced Soil-mapping and fertilizer blend archetyping

21. The next SoilCares Revolution • Handheld soil scanners • Feed and fodder analysis • Fertilizer analysis • Compost analysis • Nematode analysis • Pest identification • Microorganism identification and quantification

22. Be an Agripreneur the SoilCares way:

23. For fertile soils and higher yields farmers need to test their soils and get accurate advice on which inputs to apply at which quantity. Only then can they improve their soils’ quality and achieve high yields. Until today Kenyan farmers had little or no access to such soil testing services. SoilCares has taken the initiative for change and is bringing soil testing to the farmer’s doorstep! Agricultural advisors and young graduates can start testing soil as an independent agent for SoilCares. The agent will get a loan to acquire the handheld soil testing device, a smart phone and a motorbike. With just one “click” per day they can become the proud owner of their own business.

24. We just love being in the revolution business!

25. Thank You! Looking forward to doing business with you soon! Contact: Soil Cares Ltd. info@soilcares.com Office: 0728-970 136 www.soilcares.com Soil Cares Initiative