Elgon Kenya Limited, one of the leading agri-inputs suppliers in East Africa, has partnered with the University of Nairobi (UoN) to build a first-of-its-kind agricultural technology centre at the university’s Upper Kabette campus.
The centre known as Kantaria Agricultural Technology and Innovation Centre (KATIC) is a multi-million dollar project whose construction, once completed, will create jobs opportunities, drive innovations and boost food production in the country.
The name Kantaria is derived from the late philanthropist and chairman of Elgon Kenya Limited, Mr. Rajnikant Kantaria who was interested in projects and programmes that uplift people in the society.
According to Mr. Musalia Mudavadi, the Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary who graced the ground breaking ceremony of the construction of the centre on Tuesday this week, there is a rising demand for agricultural products driven by population growth in the country currently estimated to hit the 55 million mark this year.
“To meet the rising demands of this rapidly growing population, we must invest and annually increase agricultural production by a minimum of 2 per cent,” said Mudavadi.
“In order to walk this journey to prosperity, we have to cut bureaucracy to benefit from the partnerships, and we can attest that in some places, food prices have started going down,” he added.
At the same time, Mudavadi noted that tailor-made courses designed and delivered with input from the industry can contribute vastly to molding job creators and job-compliant graduates.
“What we are witnessing, therefore, is a typical example of the collaboration between a market leader in agribusiness and a research-intensive university. At the heart of this partnership is the transfer of knowledge, skills, and competency packages to the students,” he explained.
He lauded the collaboration, saying it entails the acquisition of hands-on skills by university graduates through a joint internship program designed to offer experience in real work settings across the country.
He called for the need to put behind the culture of university research outputs with high potential to uplift the livelihoods of communities, ending up in repositories.
Up to Ksh60 million support
Bimal Kantaria, Elgon Kenya Limited Managing Director said they will donate between Ksh50 and Ksh60 million to the university for the project which is expected to be completed in the next 12 months.
“Once the project is completed, more partners will be needed as there are several departments that will be needed in terms of capacity building, personnel, equipment and support,” said Bimal.
He urged the government to extend its support to the university as well saying that once the centre is completed job opportunities will be created.
Technology and innovation
According to Professor Stephene Gitahi Kiama, the UoN Vice-Chancellor, there has been persistent inadequate production of maize in the country, a crisis that can only be solved through partnership and by giving way to technology and innovation.
“KATIC is such initiative to try and address the huge gap that has ever existed. We want to position this centre as a one-stop shop for all appropriate agricultural innovations and technologies in this country,” said Kiama.
He added that the project will contribute towards the country’s vision 2030 in terms of food security and improved livelihoods.
Once completed the centre will showcase cutting-edge agricultural technologies, incubate and accelerate the commercialisation of research results, provide extension services and facilitate capacity building through mentorship and tailor-made courses.
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