By 2050, the African population is forecast to rise from 1.2 billion to about 2.4 billion. In Kenya, the population is expected to grow to at least 90 million from the current 54 million. Climate change is increasingly being felt by the farming community, which is calling for technologies and products that can help mitigate these effects.

Regenerative agriculture holds immense potential to transform Kenya’s agricultural landscape while ensuring food security. Unlike conventional farming methods primarily reliant on inputs that degrade and deplete soils over time, regenerative practices prioritize soil health restoration, biodiversity enhancement, and natural resource conservation. With the increasing need to guarantee more local food production to meet the rising population in Kenya, and with a focus on eating safe and healthy food, regenerative agriculture practices are needed now, more than before. Using organic inputs such as organic fertilizers is one of the practices to achieve regenerative and sustainable agriculture.

The study “Business Case and Strategies for Scaling Local Manufacturing” aimed at providing valuable insights into the country’s current state of organic and organo-mineral fertilizers, the supply and demand barriers, and opportunities to scale local manufacturing by exploring viable business cases at producer and farmer levels.

The study leveraged existing research such as the CASA study, primary research and stakeholder co-creation sessions and expert feedback in generating insights, recommendations and roadmap for actualization of the identified opportunities. At the core of the approach to the study was human-centered design, an innovative approach to problem solving that puts the needs of the users at the center, prioritizing their current context and needs, realities and future goals and aspirations.

As an outcome, we have developed a Social Return on Investment (SROI) framework that can quantify the economic, social and environmental impact of organic fertilizers at the producer, distributor and farm level. The study also highlights investments needed, the barriers and enablers to scaling local manufacturing of organic fertilizers, strategies to improve the business case and gives a clear roadmap and prioritized initiatives that different stakeholders can undertake to drive the business case for scaling local manufacturing of organic fertilizers in Kenya.