Agrico wins Ambassadors’ Prize 2016 for its potato project in Kenya

Last Wednesday Agrico was awarded the Ambassadors’ Prize 2016. The award was announced during the Ambassadors’ Conference in The Hague. The Ambassadors’ Prize is awarded every two years to the company that exports sustainably, or operates a company abroad, in the most outstanding way.

Agrico received this prize for its project in Kenya that aims at establishing a profitable potato chain for all stakeholders, including 12,500 small-scale farms.

These local farmers have seen their yields increase fourfold or fivefold compared to previous figures thanks to growing high quality seed potatoes and good supervision. This boosts the Kenyan economy and enables these farmers and people in their surroundings to considerably improve their standard of living.

The project is subsidised by a Facility for Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Food Security (FDOV) grant provided by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).

Agrico’s General director Jan van Hoogen is very happy with this accolade.

Jan van Hoogen:
 

"Naturally we are proud with this recognition, but I want to emphasize that we did not win this award on our own. We would like to share the honour with our partners in the project: Migotijo Plantations Ltd, Agrico East Africa, Eunite, Tolsma storage technology, Miedema machinery, Rabobank and Bayer Crop Science and the NGO’s IFDC and SNV."

"We would also like to extend our thanks to all the government bodies who have contributed to making this initiative possible, including the Dutch Embassy in Kenya, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries in Kenya."

"This prize will encourage us all to devote much effort and energy to promoting and continuing this exceptional project in the coming years."