Bayer CropScience presented its Green World project to a wide-ranging trade audience at Fruit Logistica in Berlin. "Since the summer of 2006, Bayer CropScience has been supporting small-holders in Kenya, helping them reach demanding quality and food-safety standards," said Hans-Joachim Wegfahrt, Managing Director of Bayer East Africa Ltd. and Country Head of Bayer CropScience in Kenya, describing the company’s philosophy. "We believe that projects like Green World are exceptionally important because they safeguard the population’s food supply and, in the longer term, enable farmers to establish a successful export business."

The project is based on the concept of providing local traders with intensive training by experts from Bayer CropScience. They learn about sustainable agriculture, integrated farming methods, modern crop protection, and the safe, environmentally compatible use of Bayer CropScience products and then pass on this knowledge directly to their customers, the small-holders. The initial results are promising. The farmers produce more vegetables and corn than they need for their families and so can then sell the surplus at local markets and, increasingly, for export. The company has also involved seed producers, exporters and the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture in the Green World project under the umbrella of the "food chain partnership". All the players are working to produce high-quality, safe food. Some of the traders are visiting this year’s Fruit Logistica at Bayer CropScience’s invitation. They reported on their experience to an international trade audience with the aim of encouraging new partnerships and new projects.

Resounding response to Bayer’s training programs

Incorrect use of crop protection products and the prevalence of products for which regulatory approval has not been obtained continue to be problematic in Kenya. In addition, counterfeit active ingredients and low-quality generics are increasingly reaching the Kenyan market. With projects like Green World, Bayer CropScience is contributing to greater protection for users, the environment and consumers alike. The training programs include information on innovative products from Bayer CropScience, assistance with drawing up spraying schedules, and topics such as "good agricultural practice" and environmentally compatible production.

Wegfahrt explained: "We particularly want to help the smallest-scale farmers in Kenya." At the conclusion of the intensive training program, Bayer CropScience invited small-holders to attend field days at which the Green World traders were able to pass on their new-found knowledge. These events each attracted up to 3,000 visitors. "The traders who took part in our training program were enthusiastic about passing on their knowledge," Wegfahrt commented. This enthusiasm is also evident among the small-holders."

Maintaining village structures and preventing migration

With a surface area of 582,000 square kilometers, Kenya is about the size of France. Five million of the more than 30 million inhabitants are small-holders, making agriculture the most important sector of the economy ahead of even tourism. In addition to well-known products such as coffee, tea and flowers, Kenya has been exporting increasing volumes of fruit and vegetables to Europe in recent years.

In addition to boosting the country’s export business, Green World is also aiming to improve the lives of people in Kenya. Bayer CropScience is collaborating with the German Society for Technical Cooperation, which launched an environmental project focusing on Kenyan small-holders at the same time, to maintain the country’s village structures. The villages are the backbone of Kenyan society and if these structures can be maintained, migration of the population to big cities such as Nairobi and Mombasa can be prevented. This in turn will stop the proliferation of slums in the cities.

Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 5.9 billion (2005), is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 19,000 and is represented in more than 120 countries.