S01E09 Eric Kaduru
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Ten years ago, Eric Kaduru spotted a problem with agriculture in Uganda: although the land was very fertile, its farmers were very poor. As smallholders — and majority of them female — they barely made enough to reward their labour. Eric realised the solution was to create a sustainable
value chain in order to improve both yield and livelihoods.
An advertising professional turned commercial farmer, his experience with Uganda’s arable land was earned through costly trial and error that has since paid off. Through KadAfrica, Eric has paved a proven path for agricultural entrepreneurship with a unique model that primarily supports
female farmers in rural Uganda.
Before Eric became the youngest winner of the Africa Food Prize for his agricultural achievements with KadAfrica, he got a glimpse of commercial farming success through his parents’ friends. The strong impression it made lingered on and several years later, he traded his corporate career in
South Africa for rural farm life in Uganda. It was familiar territory because although he was born in Kenya, the early death of his Ugandan father led to his family’s relocation. Returning with his wife Rebecca in 2011 to the vast land he had inherited in Uganda was an opportunity rife with challenges but rich in lessons.
As one of this season’s chess masters, Eric tells The Africa Whisperer, Lee Kasumba how KadAfrica hit its stride in growing passion fruit and developed a viable blueprint for agribusiness in Uganda. By providing training and access to land, finance, and a ready local and international market, his company has emerged as one of Africa’s exemplary social enterprises. KadAfrica is also giving hope and a sense of agency to thousands of marginalised women and girls in rural Uganda through a dedicated agricultural entrepreneurship program.
From the effect of climate change on commercial farming in East Africa to building a pandemic-inspired mental health curriculum, this instalment of the podcast reveals the many sides of doing impact-driven agribusiness on the continent.
Social media handles
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/kadafrica/?_rdc=1&_rdr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kadafrica/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kad_africa
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJOM36PV0Xa4uzxE7_tQscQ/featured
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kadafrica/
value chain in order to improve both yield and livelihoods.
An advertising professional turned commercial farmer, his experience with Uganda’s arable land was earned through costly trial and error that has since paid off. Through KadAfrica, Eric has paved a proven path for agricultural entrepreneurship with a unique model that primarily supports
female farmers in rural Uganda.
Before Eric became the youngest winner of the Africa Food Prize for his agricultural achievements with KadAfrica, he got a glimpse of commercial farming success through his parents’ friends. The strong impression it made lingered on and several years later, he traded his corporate career in
South Africa for rural farm life in Uganda. It was familiar territory because although he was born in Kenya, the early death of his Ugandan father led to his family’s relocation. Returning with his wife Rebecca in 2011 to the vast land he had inherited in Uganda was an opportunity rife with challenges but rich in lessons.
As one of this season’s chess masters, Eric tells The Africa Whisperer, Lee Kasumba how KadAfrica hit its stride in growing passion fruit and developed a viable blueprint for agribusiness in Uganda. By providing training and access to land, finance, and a ready local and international market, his company has emerged as one of Africa’s exemplary social enterprises. KadAfrica is also giving hope and a sense of agency to thousands of marginalised women and girls in rural Uganda through a dedicated agricultural entrepreneurship program.
From the effect of climate change on commercial farming in East Africa to building a pandemic-inspired mental health curriculum, this instalment of the podcast reveals the many sides of doing impact-driven agribusiness on the continent.
Social media handles
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/kadafrica/?_rdc=1&_rdr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kadafrica/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kad_africa
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJOM36PV0Xa4uzxE7_tQscQ/featured
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kadafrica/
