Yara's Shujaa Knowledge Exchange Program to Foster Youth-Led Farming in Kenya and Beyond

Three youth farmers from Kenya, namely Janet Cheruto, Rodgers Kirwa, and Ronald Diang’a, popularly known as Yara’s Shujaa (digital champions), are set for a unique experiential tour to Norway. This initiative, organized by Yara East Africa, seeks to provide them with insights into modern farming techniques and practices.

The program is designed for the Kenyan farmers to benchmark best practices, focusing on the proper use of quality farm inputs to enhance productivity. Simultaneously, their Norwegian counterparts will have the opportunity to learn from the Kenyan perspective when they visit the country.

William Ngeno, Yara East Africa’s Country Manager (Kenya & Uganda), emphasized the importance of continuous upskilling and reskilling of farmers. He stated, “We are committed to consistently building the capacity of farmers to enhance efficiency and meet the growing market demand for food. Our ambition is to contribute to a Nature-Positive Food future by introducing new technologies and best practices in soil Health and water use efficiency.”

During the visit, the Shujaa farmers will delve into Yara's initiatives to reduce emissions and enhance productivity at its production sites. The program aims to foster mutually beneficial relationships among young farmers, promoting a shared learning experience.

Jannette Toroitich, a young female farmer from Uasin Gishu County, expressed her excitement about being chosen for the knowledge exchange program. She aims to inspire more women and youth to take up farming and seeks collaboration opportunities with Norwegian youth farmers.

Rodgers Kirwa, also known as Mr. Agriculture, is eager to share his sustainable food production tips with his farming networks. Ronald Diang’a, with a passion for digital and data-driven agriculture, sees this program as an opportunity to engage and rally youth towards farming through digital platforms.

The Shujaa Knowledge Exchange Program aligns with Yara's commitment to support farmers achieve prosperity through increased crop production and household incomes translating to improved livelihoods.

For further information, please contact:

Maureen Kihanya Marketing Manager, Yara East Africa maureen.kihanya@yara.com

About Yara

Yara grows knowledge to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet. Supporting our vision of a world without hunger and a planet respected, we pursue a strategy of sustainable value growth, promoting climate-friendly crop nutrition and zero-emission energy solutions. Yara’s ambition is focused on ‘Growing a Nature-Positive Food Future” that creates value for our customers, shareholders and society at large and delivers a more sustainable food value chain.

To achieve our ambition, we have taken the lead in developing digital farming tools for precision farming and work closely with partners throughout the food value chain to improve the efficiency and sustainability of food production. Through our focus on clean ammonia production, we aim to enable the hydrogen economy, driving a green transition of shipping, fertilizer production and other energy intensive industries.

Founded in 1905 to solve the emerging famine in Europe, Yara has established a unique position as the industry’s only global crop nutrition company. We operate an integrated business model with around 17,500 employees and operations in 60 countries, with a proven track record of strong returns. In 2022, Yara reported revenues of USD 24.1 billion.

About the Yara Shujaa Knowledge Exchange Program

The Yara Shujaa Knowledge Exchange Program launched in January 2024.

It is proposed to provide learning, growth and collaboration opportunities for farmers in the youth bracket (18-35 years).

It seeks to give the beneficiaries a 360-degree look at the production, processing and distribution across the food value chain. It encompasses matters soil health, research and development (R&D) and food markets intended to build prosperous communities.