- Matteo De Vos
FFS 038 - The Fuel Empowering Kenyan Farmers
The global fertilizer market is a $200 billion industry. But who does it serve?

Produced in large-scale, centralised facilities in developed countries, conventional fertilisers are neither cheap nor reliably accessible for rural smallholder farmers in emerging markets in Africa and India.
Safi Organics in Kenya has a vision to decentralise and downsize fertiliser production. Using recycled waste from local farms, carbon-negative organic biochar fertilisers empower farmers by making their farms more resilient with lower costs, higher yields, and better soils.
We talk to co-founder Samuel Rigu about:
His childhood memories of growing up on a farm in Kenya
The conventional model of fertiliser production and use
The crippling costs and logistical challenges of fertiliser use in Kenya
Decentralising fertiliser use
Carbon-negative, organic biochar fertiliser
The role of fertiliser in facing the reality of climate change
A vision of empowering smallholder farmers for lasting food security
Links:
“How Climate Change is fuelling innovation in Kenya” – Smithsonian
“The EU finally provides legal framework for organic and recycled fertilisers”– EURACTIV
Thought For Foodwebsite
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