Briefly discuss Wilfred Muthamia (background and chief agronomist Amiran Kenya Ltd) I was brought up in a farming community and had keen interest in Agriculture since my early childhood. For instance I headed the 4K club (Kungana, kufanya, kusaidia Kenya) where we practiced vegetable growing and rabbit keeping.

In secondary school I was the treasurer of the Young farmers club. We grew and sold cabbages to our School. Later on, I joined The University of Nairobi where I studied and graduated with BSc in Agriculture and MSc in Horticulture.

Due to my strong passion for teaching Agriculture, I proceeded to Egerton University and graduated with Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in 1996. I briefly taught at Kenya Polytechnic (Currently Kenya Polytechnic University College) and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. After this I developed interest in Agrochemicals and quit formal teaching for venture into sales and product development at Farmchem Ltd.

In 2003 I joined Twiga Uganda ltd as the Agriculture Manager, where I worked for 4 years and later on came back to Kenya and joined Amiran (K) Ltd as the chief Agronomist, the post I hold to date.

How would you describe your time as the Chief Agronomist/Business Development Manager at Amiran? Are you passionate about what you do?

It is very interesting! Am very passionate working with farmers. My greatest satisfaction is satisfying our customer needs. Almost every day there are myriad of technical issues which land on my desk. Amiran is a one stop shop for all technical queries, even regarding other companies product land here and we have to assist all our customers regardless of which product they want.

I spend 50% of my time in the office and 50% in the field. This is so because I believe you should never tell anybody to do something which you yourself you can’t do. So I have to lead from the front when it comes to farm demonstrations, farm visits and trainings, stockiest trainings etc. Time wise, I’m always constrained and have to work extra hours.

What is your vision for Amiran Kenya Ltd? What are your top priorities?

My vision for Amiran Kenya Ltd is to have the company operate/ assist all farmers all over the Region. Previously our interest was only in high agricultural potential areas but of late with the introduction of Amiran Farmers kit (AFK) we are all over the country and our kits will be seen as far as Garissa, Wajir, Mandera and even in Turkana. Currently we are exporting tunnels to Uganda, Tanzania, West African states and South African states such as Lesotho which means that we are no longer a local company but a Global one.

In short my priorities are: to have Amiran operating all over the country in all the crop segments and shape the Kenyan crop market the same way we did with floriculture while at the same making sure that our environment is protected.

In a nutshell describe Amiran Kenya Ltd products and services to the farmer

Amiran (k) Ltd is a one stop shop for farmers. This means that one will get virtually anything that is required in farming ranging from Seeds, Agrochemicals, fertilizers, Green houses, Irrigation equipments, Shade nets, Plastic covers to Pruning saws and secateurs.All these are backed up by a team of very technically qualified staff. We have a work force of more than 100 personnel in the field who are in constant touch with our farmers advising them what to do, which chemical or fertilizer to apply and at what stage. At the same time we have a team of equally qualified staff in the office that is charged with all technical issues. We also have a very efficient customer service department that disperses the order within 24 hrs after its receipt. Our trucks are always on the road, no wonder when we were starting small scale business, wherever we asked farmers who Amiran is, they responded that it is a transporting company just like Roy transporters. To sum it up ‘we offer complete solution for the best crop production’

Briefly discuss the Amiran Kenya Ltd team?

Effective. Amiran (k) is a large family. Just as I mentioned above we have office and field staff who are grouped in the following Departments: Chemicals, Fertilizers and Seeds, Green Houses, Irrigation Equipments, Communication and Amiran Farmers Kit. All these departments work in tandem with each other so as to ensure maximum efficiency in our service delivery.

For the last one year we have seen a more aggressive Amiran Kenya Ltd launching more products, what can you attribute this to?

This can be attributed to hard work of the Technical department whose core responsibility is product sourcing and registration. We are in constant touch with manufacturers and suppliers all over the world and that is how we manage to roll out new products all the time. Recently, we launched new products namely Sphinx Extra, Rimon Supra, Saf-T-side and very soon we will be launching our new powdery fungicide Cyflamid, in conjunction with Mura Agroconsultancy among very many other products.

In our last discussion you hinted that you’re looking to expand into Biologicals and Seeds, what are the factors that you’re considering in making that choice?

The Agrochemical business is very fluid; it’s always changing all the time. New requirements are being demanded by the market. For instance the Maximum Residue Levels (MRL’s) and consequently Pre- Harvest Intervals (PHI) and Re- Entry Intervals (REI) have posed a big challenge in the way we have been operating. As the saying goes ‘when the going gets tough the tough gets going’ we have to keep on going and thus how we are re-engineering ourselves with modern, safe and very effective biological products such as Levo, Phytoprotect, Botanigard and Bio-T. Our seeds department was very small but of late it has grown tremendously. We have added a lot of hybrid seeds from Hazera Genetics, Israel and whoever is in melon knows Amiran by the name Lahart F1, sweet melon Garlia F1, Onions Sivan F1, RougeF1 and Russet F1 not forgetting cabbage Landini F1 and Taurus F1.

Where do you think the most significant growth will occur in the company in the next few years?

What new competition are you expecting then? Our most significant growth in future is expected in biological products and vegetable seeds. In the small scale business we are opening the market by building training centres like the ones in Oloitoktok and Meru to train farmers on best practices in crop production.

Ethical competition is always a key driver of business. Thus we expect challenges from the current existing companies and upcoming ones. The solution is to keep a head of competition through creating/developing new products, continuous modification and keep on improving and run our SWOT analysis all the time.

What’s the biggest challenge YOU feel your company faces, and how do you inspire your colleagues to meet it head on?

The biggest challenge is how to handle the shrinking market. Currently the number of products being registered is growing rapidly. The area under farming is more or less constant, sometimes even declining wherever there is a drought. Our strategy in Amiran is to spread in arid and semi- arid areas with modern irrigation technology and not to rely on rain fed agriculture.

Where do you see the agrochemical sector globally in the next 5 and 10 years from now?How are you prepared for this change in the industry?

Over the last two decades patented products contributed more than 60% of agrochemicals sold in the country. However with the opening of Far East markets, Generic products have entered the market with a loud bang. Thus in the next 5-10 years I expect the tables to turn upside down and generic products will contribute over 60% and original, proprietary products will be less than 40%.That means enormous price reductions are expected in the market and the worst price wars are set to come in. Thus although the consumption of Agrochemicals is set to go up due to new areas that will be opened I don’t expect huge growth in Kenyan market on overall monetary values.

What is your personal work ethic, and how does this affect the company culture?

My work ethics is very simple and clear i.e. ‘Never ever tell anyone to do what you can’t do’. In other word I have to lead from the front. I believe this is the mother of team work because everybody is encouraged to participate. In other words we work like colleagues and not boss versus juniors.

What decisions have you made in your career that you look back on feel where mistakes?

Slow progress in registering products earlier on and late entry into the small scale market. Now the rules have become tougher and it requires more resources, time and energy to register a product.The small scale business has also become more competitive hence more investments are needed.

What have you learned from them?

The earlier bad catches the worm but it is better late than never.

What are the 3 most pivotal moments in your career that you either learned from and/or that got you where you are?

My first industry employment, work ethics were inculcated in one being. The key thing being speed, precision and integrity in all aspects of life.

My visit to Israel enlightened me on the need for technological change and determination to excel in very difficult environments.

My post in Uganda was a learning experience for it was a totally new environment and everything was completely different from t Kenya. I learnt how to cope with new environments and learned international trade, right from imports, sales, collections, credit managements etc.

Describe your ordinary day?Do you still have enough personal time?

Very busy and Monday to Friday is very hectic. Personal time usually over the weekends. Give your final comments. One needs to strive to excel. The success should not be measured by the profits made by one or a company but the impact made on mankind. Let’s all strive to make Kenya a food sufficient country and have excess to export. Let’s make Kenya a good country to live in.