Twiga Foods Limited has announced the transfer of its rights to the development of the Galana Kulalu Food Security Project to Selu Limited, a company established to develop, manage, and operate the project.
Selu is a Special Purpose Vehicle comprising a partnership by several companies, amongst them Campos, a farm management company overseeing over600,000 acres of farmland in Latin America in a similarclimate to Kenya and AgCo, a United States-basedglobal leader in precision agriculture technology.
Twiga Foods Managing Director Peter Njonjo said: “We believe that Selu Limited is the best fit to manage the next stage of the project, which is to develop it further, manage and then operate it.
“This strategic move marks a significant step towards maximizing the impact of Galana Kulalu and accelerating its positive impact on the Kenyan agricultural landscape.”
Selu is currently undertaking the Development Phasecovering 500 acres and targeting to achieve above 9metric tons per hectare, 4.5 times the Kenyan averageyield.
The average yield of maize in Kenya is about 2 metric tonsper hectare, with the global average yielding between 5 to6 metric tons per hectare.
The Galana Kulalu farm had yielded about 7.2 metric tons per hectare in past trials.
Yvonne Okafor, who is managing the developmentphase at Selu, said: “We are delighted to be entrustedwith the responsibility of developing the Galana-Kulalufarm project, which will be Kenya’s most significantmaize producer.
“We are committed to implementing innovativestrategies and leveraging state-of-the-art infrastructureto optimize efficiency and productivity.
“With a strong emphasis on sustainability, Selu aims topositively disrupt the agricultural sector in collaborationwith key stakeholders to ensure we make a meaningfulimpact on food security.”
The development of the Galana-Kulalu project is under a Public-Private Partnership with the Government of Kenya.
Christopher Kirigua, Director-General of Private-Public Partnerships said: “Kenya has a strong Private-Public Partnership framework which is an enabler for the private sector to identify and grow critical industries which can drive rapid transformation and help the government achieve its commitments to the Public.
“His Excellency the President together with the Minister for Finance, are committed to PPPs and see them as being critical to strengthening private sector growth while driving economic growth and development and addressing public needs.
“Selu’s Project has been delivered through the new PPP framework which has delivered the private sector investment in a record 3 months.”
Selu has also partnered with reputable seed, fertilizer,and other farming input providers to achieve optimalyields and produce safe, high-quality maize. Thesecollaborations will enable access to high-quality maizeseed varieties and fertilizer.
Planting for the trial phase has kicked off and the maize in the trial phase is expected to grow over the next four months to determine the inputs that will be best for the commercial planting phase.
The trial phase will determine the maize variety, fertilizer regime, plant spacing and population, best crop protection regime and the best soil improvement regime suited for Galana.
The company aims to prioritize environmentalsustainability by incorporating rotational crops, such ascastor oil, that offer the additional benefit of reducing theproject’s carbon footprint while generating renewableenergy from biomass waste.
With a targeted start of commercial operations in the 4thquarter of this year, Selu will invest in the development ofthe 20,000 acres that is currently feasible based onavailable water from the Galana River throughout theyear.
As the Government of Kenya embarks on developing adam on the Galana River that captures run-off during the rainy season and maximizes irrigation potential, the scopeof the Project will be scaled to 100,000 acres, and this willgenerate annual production equivalent to the averagemaize deficit in Kenya over the last 5 years and over10% of the country’s annual production.
Selu is dedicated to implementing an innovative andenvironmentally conscious approach to its execution ofthe project resulting in an overall carbon reduction, soilenrichment, and water conservation.
This Public Private Partnership Project under Selu alignswith the country’s long-term vision to spur agriculturaldevelopment and promote food security in Kenya. This will enable specialized entities like Selu to undertake keyagricultural industry initiatives and create a robustecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation that will reshape the agriculture landscape in Kenya andcontribute to the overall development of the country.