A life-changing fertilizer for rural farmers in Kenya

17 February 2022. by Zach Winn, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Safi Organics is using a technology honed at MIT's D-Lab to make organic fertilizer that can help restore such farmlands. The fertilizer is made locally using the residue from crops after harvest.

Safi buys crop residue like rice husks from the farmers and processes it nearby before selling it back to farmers at competitive prices. The company says its fertilizer has been shown to reduce the acidification of soil and increase crop yields by up to 30 percent after a single planting cycle.

"Safi is decentralizing fertilizer production such that it can be carried out in rural villages for the first time. [Safi] started as a MIT project, but we had to learn how to engage local partners and recognize that sometimes they are going to become the champions of these initiatives, not necessarily us, and they'll have the final say in the direction of things." Safi co-founder and chief technology officer Kevin Kung

The company has been working with farmers in Kenya since 2015. More than 5,000 farmers have purchased Safi Organics' fertilizer to date. Kung says those farmers have reported a total increase of $800,000 in earnings from increased crop yields.

Now Safi is seeking to bring its model to India and other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.