Sustainability Synopsis
May 2014
KPL 5,000 ha rice farm Kilombero Valley, Tanzania
Mission


To Set the Standard for Sustainable Commercial
Agriculture in East Africa through:
–
State of the Art Minimum-Impact Farming
& Post-Harvest Processing
–
Transformative Smallholder Technology
–
Renewably Powered Operations
–
Poverty Reduction in Areas of Chronic
Underinvestment
–
Boosting Food Security through Import
Displacement
Agrica commenced its first project, KPL, in Tanzania in
September 2008
www.agrica.com
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Self Sufficiency

Farming in Africa is expensive.
Unlike the Americas and Asia,
farm investments require:
•
•
Research programs for:
•
High yielding seed
varieties
•
Pest and disease
control
Basic Infrastructure
usually not owned by
farm:
•
Drying facilities
•
Milling facilities
•
Storage facilities
•
Power generation
plants
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Irrigation

Water-efficient irrigation is an important adaptation to climate
change in a drying world

Overhead center pivot irrigation, which requires 50% less water
than flood, started with 215 ha in the 2011 dry season

The maximum average achievable rain-fed rice yield over the farm
is 4 tons per ha vs. maximum irrigated yield achievable over the
farm of 10 tons per ha

Irrigation allows 2.25 – 2.5 crops per year versus 1 rain-fed crop

3,000 ha of center pivot irrigation will require an investment of
about $14 million

At full production, the farm will produce 50,000 tons of paddy (unmilled rice) and 6,000 tons of beans & pulses annually
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STRICTLY PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL
Renewable Energy

KPL has refurbished existing 320 kW North Korean hydro and is
expanding the plant to 820 kW

KPL plans to construct three 500 kW gasifiers, which convert rice
husk into syngas to power internal combustion engines

–
Biomass gasification reduces GHG through diesel displacement
and avoided methane emissions from degrading rice husk
–
KPL is ordered its first 500kW gasifier in April 2014 following a
DFID investment (thru AgDevCo) in KPL
Peak production demand of 3 MW will be met through a combination
of hydro, biomass and solar, saving about $1.3 million annually in
diesel costs
Mngeta Hydro Plant, built by North Koreans
Indian Manufactured Gasifier Biomass Plant in USA
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Transparency in Land Transactions:
PAPs: Project Affected Persons

When Kilombero Plantations Limited (KPL), Agrica’s Tanzania
subsidiary, took possession of the farm in September 2008, local
villages disputed the title deed, claiming about half the farm, outside
the white border

The government had misrepresented the number of PAPs; our survey
revealed to be 2,238 either resident or farming in the titled area

To resolve the dispute, KPL ceded 389 heavily-populated ha, the area
within the red border, to a local village and built them a school and
wells, leaving a gross farm area of 5,429 ha (13,458 acres)

20 families within the yellow border were moved to the red area, where
KPL built houses

80 families within the grey border moved to KPL-built houses (photo
below) within the green border outside the farm

An additional 150 non-resident farmers were provided with 3 acres
each outside the farm, purchased, cleared and ploughed by KPL

The total cost for the Resettlement Action is estimated at $623,000,
($250,000 was held in escrow from the purchase price of the farm)

The Resettlement Action has abided by World Bank guidance on
resettlement, leaving the PAPs better off than they were before
regardless of the illegality of their land tenure
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Social Responsibility: Necessary for Good Relations with Poor Neighbors
In July 2013, KPL opened a Health Centre, left,
for KPL employees and residents of
Mkangawalu Village (pop. 14,000) who
previously had to walk over 10 km to the
nearest clinic. This investment could not be
afforded by a smallholder-only development
model.

It is in the long-term interest of KPL to have the full support of the very poor
communities surrounding the farm

The 3 villages bordering the farm have a total population of over 27,000

When starting operations, with an annual TZ shilling 50 million (now about
$30,000) Community Development Fund, KPL began funding projects chosen
by the villages, which include:

–
School Classrooms
–
Teachers’ houses
–
Pumps & water systems to replace dirty shallow wells
The Community Development Fund continues each year
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Smallholder System for Rice Intensification (SRI)

KPL is lifting farmer families in 10 villages within 50 km of the farm from subsistence to surplus:
–
Traditional rain-fed yields are less than 1 ton/ha vs. SRI farmers’ average of 3.65 tons/ha
increasing family income by a factor of 3.5
–
KPL’s smallholder program has expanded quickly:
Above: Experimental Planter
Below: Extension officers
reaching isolated villages

Over 150 farmer families, not formally trained in the KPL Smallholder Program, have adopted
SRI techniques from their neighbours

By 2016, The SRI program should be contributing $175,000 annual net operating income to
KPL, a poor return on an investment of about $1.6 million which would not be justifiable without
the commercial farm
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