US seed firm ditches Nairobi for Lusaka

New York Stock Exchange-listed agricultural company Corteva Agriscience has apparently ditched Nairobi for its seed production business and instead opted for Lusaka, Zambia.

Hardly five months after it named Nairobi as its regional hub for Eastern, Central and Southern Africa countries, the US firm made a U-turn, setting a production unit in Lusaka.

In a statement issued last week Corteva Agriscience said Zambia will be its chosen seed production hub for the region, supplying seed to countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.

“Clearly Zambia is on the move, and a very, very important site for Corteva Agriscience. For us, quality seed and making sure farmers get the best product is most important, and this site is testament to that. We are in the business of enriching the lives of our farmers,” the firm’s president for Africa and Middle East Prabdeep Bajwa said in a statement.

Last September, Corteva announced plans to set a regional base in Kenya, adding it was working with State and research institutions “to harness expertise that would assist the small-scale farmer maximise on his land in line with the food security pillar in the Kenya government Big Four Agenda.”

Asked by the Business Daily what became of plan for Kenya, the firm said Nairobi will now serve as the region’s distribution unit and operations head office.

Of late, foreign firms incorporated in Kenya have complained of high taxation and poor policies.