Kentegra Biotechnology works to meet growing demand for organic pesticides while boosting the livelihoods of farmers in Kenya.
The U.S.-Kenyan company contracts with over 10,000 farmers in more than a half-dozen Kenyan counties to produce pyrethrum, a flower used to produce a natural insecticide.
Grown year-round, pyrethrum provides farmers with a steadier income than other crops, says Kentegra Chief Revenue Officer and Co-Founder David Payne. In addition to buying farmers’ crops, the company, which operates out of Nairobi, provides training and equipment to maximize yields.
Gladys Mbithi says farming with Kentegra increased her income eightfold. The extra money helped her buy a home, pay for her children’s schooling and launch a new business to further expand her income.
John Ngugi Ng’ang’a, a farmer in Kenya’s Nakuru County, has upgraded his home, including adding access to reliable electricity, which more than 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa still live without, according to the World Resources Institute.
Kentegra’s support for sustainable pyrethrum production in Kenya earned the company the U.S. State Department’s 2023 Award for Corporate Excellence for innovation October 30. The award recognizes U.S. companies that uphold high standards in the communities where they operate and demonstrate that sustainability can support the economy.
Linda Capwell, Kentegra’s head of marketing, says the award “gives us a thumbs up, adding fuel to the engine to innovate further.”
The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation has provided Kentegra a loan to build a new pyrethrum processing facility in Kenya.
This story was written by freelance writer Grace Hayward.
