The Café de Maraba washing station in Rwanda’s Huye province served as a mock-amphitheater this past week, host to the launching of the Black Earth Project. Funded by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and through partnership with Radio Lifeline, re:char trained twelve Rwandan coffee farmers and agronomists to be biochar ambassadors to 12,000+ growers across six represented cooperatives.

Over the course of their two day training, these farmers and agronomists went through practical and lecture style exercises preparing them to both explain and demonstrate biochar, its production, and its application.

All six cooperatives received complimentary kilns to be used for a number of purposes – most immediately to produce biochar for bean test plots.

Over the next three months Rwandan farmers will witness first-hand the benefits biochar provides to bean plants, ranging from improved nutrient availability to greater root nodulation. We expect to demonstrate both the potential to increase income and decrease input costs.

In October of this year, these cooperatives will plant similar test plots using coffee tree seedlings. Additionally, a side dressing of biochar will be amended to the soil of a select group of fully grown trees. Root growth, soil moisture, pH, carbon and NPK availability, coffee yield, and coffee quality will all be evaluated.

This project is laying the foundation not just for broad-ranging biochar use within Rwanda, but for biochar use within the entire international coffee industry.

The capacity of this project to expand biochar’s reach is driven by the unique combination of passion and technology. All involved have a demonstrated commitment to improving farmer livelihoods and promoting sustainable agriculture. This commitment, paired with the rapid scalability of re:char’s farm-level production technology and Radio Lifeline’s expansive radio communication network means big things are on the horizon.

The post Black Earth Kicks Off in Rwanda appeared first on re:char.

We are excited to announce our partnership with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters–makers of Keurig– and Radio Lifeline. The Black Earth Project will bring re:char’s award-winning Climate Kiln technology to coffee and pyrethrum farmers in Rwanda. Together, we will launch a revolution and open up new markets for biochar. One day, your coffee could be carbon negative! Check out the full press release below:

RWANDA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Radio Lifeline, a non-profit based in the US, announces the launch of the Black Earth Project, a new initiative designed to help farmers mitigate the growing effects of climate change. Radio Lifeline’s partner in this project is re:char, a leading developer of small-scale biochar technologies, based in Kenya. Major funding for the Black Earth Project is being provided by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR), headquartered in Waterbury, VT.

The Black Earth Project is a two-year research project designed to evaluate the effectiveness of biochar when used as a soil amendment by smallholder coffee and pyrethrum farmers in Rwanda. Biochar is produced through a process called pyrolysis, or the burning of dried biomass in a low or zero oxygen environment. The process prevents combustion and the usual release of carbon dioxide, black carbon and other greenhouse gases associated with traditional charcoal production methods.

“When used as a soil amendment, biochar can increase crop yields, reduce nutrient leaching, help retain moisture, reduce soil acidity and improve surrounding water quality while significantly reducing the need for additional irrigation and fertilizer inputs. Biochar has increasingly been cited as an effective approach to carbon sequestration as it can remain stable in the soil for thousands of years”, said Jason Aramburu, CEO of re:char.

The Black Earth Project will incorporate the use of re:char’s Climate Kiln, making possible a farm-centered approach to biochar production by utilizing various forms of agricultural crop residues, including dried corn stalks, grasses, rice hulls and coffee pulp as well as cow manure and wood chips. A series of test plots will be constructed within Rwanda’s coffee and pyrethrum farming sectors to measure the benefits of using biochar as a soil amendment as compared to traditional petrochemical-based fertilizers. Farmers will be kept abreast of the project’s progress via Radio Lifeline’s weekly farmer-focused programs, broadcast through its network of community radio stations.

“The Black Earth Project could make a significant contribution to GMCR’s continuing efforts to help farmers meet the challenges presented by climate change and food insecurity by helping to increase yields and decrease input costs in coffee producing regions. We are very pleased to support this collaborative and innovative project,” commented Colleen Popkin, GMCR’s Coffee Community Outreach Manager.

Peter Kettler, Executive Director of Radio Lifeline remarked, “This project advances our goal of providing low-tech, locally-appropriate solutions to some of the biggest challenges that farmers in the developing world are facing today, including climate change, increased competition for natural resources, rising input costs and the complex issues related to food security. If successful, the Black Earth Project could eventually lead to the production of the world’s first carbon-negative coffee.”

The Black Earth Project is scheduled to begin construction of test plots and initiate farmer training workshops on March 3 in Butare, Rwanda. Radio Lifeline will provide regular project updates through its blog and on its website, www.radiolifeline.org.

For further information, please contact Peter Kettler at: peter@radiolifeline.org.

About Radio Lifeline

Radio Lifeline is a US non-profit that seeks to provide low-tech, locally appropriate and sustainable technologies to help farmers in the developing world meet the increased challenges of farming in the 21st century. Our Coffee Lifeline and Py Lifeline projects connect farmers in the developing world to information that can lead to higher quality crops and a better quality of life. Our approach in each of our projects is based on collaboration, partnering with existing NGO’s, local agronomists, universities, industry stakeholders and government agencies to increase the impact of their various outreach and education efforts via self-powered radio technology and weekly farmer-focused broadcasts.

About Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.

As a leader in specialty coffee and coffee makers, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR) (GMCR), is recognized for its award-winning coffees, innovative Keurig® Single Cup brewing technology, and socially responsible business practices. GMCR supports local and global communities by offsetting 100% of its direct greenhouse gas emissions, investing in sustainably-grown coffee, and donating a portion of its pre-tax profits to social and environmental projects. For more information, please visit us online at www.GMCR.com;www.GreenMountainCoffee.com or www.keurig.com.

The post Announcing the Black Earth Project appeared first on re:char.

After posting our results from our second season test plots in Kenya, we received a wide range of commentary. While it was nearly all positive, some people did not quite understand the impact of these results. We’ve tried to clarify the information below, and present what we feel are the most important results from this experiment. This is not intended to be published as a peer-reviewed scientific document, it’s only a statement of our findings, and the conclusions we’ve drawn. If you’d like to draw your own conclusions from our raw data, please send an email request to info@re-char.com.

Our test farm is managed by our team of local farmers in Bungoma County, Western Kenya. All test plots receive similar sunlight and rainfall.

1) Baseline yields of staple grain in Kenya are below subsistence levels

Nearly 70% of Kenyan smallholders use some amount of chemical fertilizer. This stands in contrast to the rest of Subsaharan Africa (SSA), where use of chemical fertilizer is far less common. For those farmers who do not use any chemical fertilizer (or organic amendment), we found they could only produce around 70kg of dry sorghum per acre. By adding 50kg of DAP/acre– the Kenyan Government’s recommended allowance of chemical fertilizer– farmers can increase their yield of sorghum to 420 kg/acre. One 50kg bag of fertilizer currently costs $45 at retail, and must be applied each season. Most of our customers in Kenya typically spend $90-200/year on chemical fertilizer.

2) Organic composted manure is an effective fertilizer replacement, but not a solution

In our tests, we found that by applying 6,000kg/acre of composted cow manure, farmers can produce 810 kg of dry sorghum/acre. This represents a 48% increase in yield over plots treated with recommended allowance of chemical fertilizer. However, we believe that compost is not a longterm solution to improving smallholder yields, as there is simply not enough available feedstock. In Kenya, cattle are open-grazed and are rarely confined to pens or feed lots. As a result, manure is distributed around the countryside, and difficult to collect. Manure is also already in use throughout the developing world as a fuel.

3) Biochar + sanitized human urine produced the highest yields of sorghum 

Many of our customers experiment with using diluted human urine as a replacement for chemical fertilizer. In plain soil, we found that a 15% solution of sanitized urine and water added to soil produces a sorghum yield of 205kg/acre, 51% less than the yields observed with chemical fertilizer. On its own, sanitized urine is not a viable replacement for chemical fertilizer.

When this same urine treatment was applied to soils amended with biochar (at a rate of 6,000 kg/acre), we recorded a sorghum yield of 1,025 kg/acre. This represents a 144% increase relative to chemical fertilizer. Biochar+ human urine outperformed any other treatments (organic and chemical) that we tested.  We conclude that biochar somehow ‘activates’ urine-based fertilizers. The most logical explanation is that biochar improves the soil’s ability to capture and retain the nutrients found in urine.

4) The effects of biochar persist, and may increase over time

This effect is perhaps the most interesting of all that we have observed. As previously mentioned, this is our second season of cultivating these particular test plots. Biochar was applied in season 1 and then not reapplied in season 2. In season 1, our urine + biochar plots outperformed chemical fertilizers by 27%. In season 2, urine+biochar outperformed chemical fertilizers by 144%, without adding any additional biochar. These results indicate that biochar produced with our proprietary kiln has an impact on soil beyond the first season. Unlike chemical fertilizer, our biochar is not consumed in one season. It is possible that after 1 season of application, biochar becomes more effective in soils due to increased weathering. It is also possible that biochar acts as a longterm nutrient sponge, retaining nutrients throughout the year.

Conclusions

Based on our findings, we conclude that the most effective staple-crop fertilization strategy for smallholders is to combine biochar with dilute human urine solution. With over 1,000 farmers in Western Kenya now using our technology, we find these test results are consistent with user reports.

Urine is readily available, and free to collect. While biochar must be applied at high concentrations (6,000 kg/acre) to see the greatest impacts, it can be added progressively over time, to sustainably increase yields. With each seasonal application, farmers will see an improvement in their yield. By eliminating chemical fertilizer consumption, a farmer can save up to $200/year.

The post The Longterm Impact of Biochar in Soil (Season 2) appeared first on re:char.

This past week we harvested our second round of biochar test plots. We planted sorghum using the same techniques and nutrient inputs as we did with finger millet during the long rains season. The primary difference this round was that we did not add any new biochar. That means the biochar + human urine solution test plots only received a new helping of urine this season. No new biochar.

What we wanted to test was biochar’s impact in its second season. After harvest we looked at our results and were blown away.

Not only did the effect of biochar not diminish, it substantially grew! One of the likely causes was higher nutrient retention rates in soils with greater amount of biochar added last season. What this basically means is less long rains (last season) nutrients were lost from the soil heading in to the short rains season (this season) in plots with more biochar. So, when we added human urine to our 6000kg/acre biochar test plot it likely had greater reserves of nitrogen and phosphorus available than the 2000kg/acre or 400kg/acre plots. This compound effect can be seen in the below graph.

This season we had twelve (12) test plots outperform the baseline DAP plot. DAP (di-ammonium phosphate) is the most commonly used inorganic fertilizer in western Kenya. The 50KG/Acre application rate is recommended by most distributers. All but one of these twelve plots were amended with biochar, and five of those eleven were 100% organic (an improvement from two last season).

Once again the 6000KG Biochar + 5000L 15% Human Urine Solution plot took gold. Last season it beat DAP by 27%. This season this organic biochar plot beat the DAP plot by 144%. Additionally, last season’s 400KG/Acre application of biochar allowed us to reduce our DAP use by 50% and while improving our yield 17% (versus a full application of DAP with no biochar).

The primary observation this season was the compound effect of a biochar application in its second season, likely resulting from improved nutrient retention and overall soil health (microbial activity, water infiltration, aeration, etc). The average impact of 400KG/Acre, 2000KG/Acre, and 6000KG/Acre biochar applications versus the control more than doubled in their second season, and in some cases more than tripled, as compared to the first season (11%, 31%, and 54% versus 40%, 95%, and 140% respectively).

These results aren’t limited to our test plots; customers from all over western Kenya are reporting substantial yield improvements and reductions in dependency on inorganic fertilizer.

Every kiln sold is another step toward carbon negative food security for the region and every season provides further proof of biochar’s impact on farmer livelihoods and long term soil health.

The post The Results Are In… Again! appeared first on re:char.

Hosted by CIAT (International Center for Tropical Agriculture) and the University of Nairobi, hundreds of the foremost soil scientists in the world gathered in Nairobi this past week to discuss the interlinked issues of tropical soil degradation, poor yields, and environmental sustainability. At the center of a number of the discussions was how biochar fits in to the ISFM framework.

ISFM (Integrated Soil Fertility Management) is a holistic approach to agriculture with strong focuses on productivity, sustainability, and scientific rigor. The aim of ISFM is to create integrated farming systems rather than looking at individual farming practices as separate and somehow not intrinsically linked. Sustainably (and increasingly) productive farms require utilization of the symbiotic relationships that occur in nature, efficient application and use of nutrients (organic when available, inorganic when not), resilient seeds, and proper soil and landscape management.

When all of these things come together you see explosions in agricultural productivity such as those that have been observed throughout the western world over the course of the last century. Food security and environmentalism don’t have to be mutually exclusive endeavors as so many have made them out to be. This is especially the case when biochar use is adopted and implemented within an ISFM framework.

Cases were made for biochar’s positive impact on legume root nodulation, compost nutrient retention, and overall yield improvements. Additionally, a number of other soil benefits were discussed:

• Improved water infiltration – to improve root growth and nutrient uptake as well as reduce topsoil erosion.
• Liming effect – to balance out the acidity brought on by ammonium-based fertilizers and thus make nutrients more accessible by plants.
• Improved microbial and fungal activity – organisms that both create and facilitate the movement of nutrients in the soil.

In some cases, African soils have been found to be almost entirely unresponsive to inorganic fertilizers largely because of the fact that the soil had almost no more remaining organic matter. By applying biochar to soil a farmer adds long-lasting organic matter in the form of highly stable carbon. This action has the capacity to improve soil responsiveness to nutrient addition.

At re:char we are always in the process of learning about the evolving worlds of agriculture and soil science. As such, we make sure to educate the farmers we reach about topics that go beyond just biochar. While we do this in an attempt to be socially responsible, it is also a necessary component of a successful business model.  A broad understanding of what it takes to achieve sustainable food security is much more valuable to a small hold farmer than a silo approach. As re:char becomes a farmer’s trusted technology and information provider, a much stronger relationship endures than one which neglects the complexity of needs inherent to farming in western Kenya.

The post Biochar and ISFM appeared first on re:char.

Entrepreneurs often speak of ‘crossing the chasm’ with regards to launching new technologies. The now-ubiquitous iPhone was once a niche product, prized by early adopters but not yet mainstream. Biochar faces a similar challenge– A handful of visionaries from various geographies have recognized the potential of this farming technique and adopted it. Everyday, these leaders see the benefits of biochar in their gardens, on their farms and in their climate. They post vivid anecdotes and stories to the internet. However, biochar is not yet reaching the bulk of the agricultural and gardening markets. Whether it’s lack of awareness or lack of rigorous scientific and economic data, something is missing from the global biochar story.

How do we transition biochar from early adoption to global solution? How do we cross the chasm and make biochar a mainstream idea? Every audacious goal seems impossible until it’s broken up into actionable steps. At re:char, we believe the next step in the biochar journey is to reach and carefully document 10,000 paying customers using biochar. The global academic and entrepreneurial community has shown convincingly that biochar improves crop yield under controlled conditions. In addition, the biochar industry has shown that early adopters are willing to pay for this technology. However, there have been few large-scale studies of biochar with >100 actual customers in the field.

Obviously, studies of this size and scope take time and money. However, the benefits to the biochar industry would be numerous:

• A successful and rigorous 10,000 user trial would silence critics: groups like Biofuelwatch repeatedly point to a lack of data as a reason to dismiss biochar. A 10,000 user trial across multiple crops and geographies would be the largest to-date, and would demonstrate that biochar is a reliable and effective solution for increasing crop yields.
• It would validate the industry: 10,000 documented, paying customers would prove that biochar has economic legs. A dataset of this size would also help to determine a sustainable price for biochar production. Once technologists know what 10,000 users are willing to pay for biochar, they can optimize their systems to produce at or below this price.
• Data from 10,000 users would attract the interest of international aid organizations: Aid orgs like USAID, UKAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are eager to fund the scale-up of new agricultural techniques to improve crop yield for farmers in the developing world. However, these groups need convincing and statistically-significant data documenting the effectiveness and adoption potential for these technologies. Right now, there is insufficient data on biochar to warrant large-scale funding. From our discussions with these organizations, 10,000 documented, paying users is a critical adoption threshold that we must cross.
• It would generate significant impact: We estimate that reaching 10,000 smallholder farmers would offset 96,000 metric tons of CO2 (the annual emissions of ~15,000 automobiles). Based on our initial work in Kenya, we calculate that the use of biochar would generate a savings of nearly $2M for these farmers through reductions in fertilizer and yield improvements. One of re:char’s advisors, Rich Sun, once said that to launch a new technology “you must first find the people who can’t live without your product and sell to them.” For many farmers in Kenya and the developing world, food insecurity is a life or death issue. Biochar can help farmers transition from grain debt to grain surplus.
• 10,000 success stories are good for the industry as a whole: Developed-world biochar consumers are interested in more than just what biochar can do for their own personal farms or gardens. These users have a social and environmental conscience and have shown they want to make the world a better place. By rigorously sourcing and promoting success stories in the developing world, we can reach and attract new consumers in the developed world. If these customers know that their purchase of biochar supports efforts in the developing world, they are much more likely to take the plunge on a new technology.

So how do we get to 10,000 farmers? At re:char we believe that collaboration is critical to reaching this goal. It will take us 2 years to reach 10,00 farmers alone, but with the support of the biochar community, we could cut this time in half. In the coming weeks, we will work with partners in the biochar industry to launch a unified and standardized reporting tool for biochar. This tool will allow us to source data from the crowd, while maintaining scientific rigor. Clearly, there are still many details to be worked out, but we want to gauge interest from the biochar community, and identify potential partners. If you are interested to participate in this program, please speak up in the comments, or email us privately at info@re-char.com.

To 10,000 farmers and beyond!

The post Crossing the Biochar Chasm appeared first on re:char.

The short rains planting season is well under way in Bungoma and many of our customers are reaping the benefits of biochar for their second season – in most cases benefiting from biochar they applied the prior season.

This is one of the qualities of biochar we are evaluating in our second round of test plots.

This season we have arranged two sets of plots. The first set was planted in the exact same way as our first round – with varying amounts of biochar, DAP, urine solution, and compost – except for two differences: we rotated crops from finger millet to sorghum and, most importantly, we did not add any new biochar.

What this means is that any effect biochar will have this season will have been carried over from the prior season’s application. We are testing the long term effect of a single biochar application.

Even after just a few weeks, there are noticeable differences. Below you can see how our compost-only plot is doing. Looking pretty healthy.

But then you take a look at the plot with 24kg of residual biochar and there’s a world of difference:

Our second set of test plots is evaluating various organic fertilizers, biochar feed stocks, and application methods. Different % solutions, quantities, and application methods of tithonia leaves (shown below), human urine, compost, and biochar are pitted against one another, and against DAP (di-ammonium phosphate) – the locally available inorganic fertilizer.

While right now we are only able to provide qualitative analysis, we look forward to sharing our yield results after harvest in December.

Keep an eye out!

The post Test Plots Round 2 appeared first on re:char.

At re:char we give oil drums a second chance to do something helpful for the environment. Below is how this happens.

Kibuye Market – Kisumu, Kenya.

Kibuye is a jua kali haven; a place where local metalworkers thrive. It’s also the place where our good friend Fred works. Fred ships emptied oil drums from the Kenyan port city of Mombasa to his shop where he proceeds make the drum tops in to tool boxes, bowls, and other useful items. The drums, we buy from him.

At the drop of a hat Fred can load up a lorry with 150 drums and start them on their way toward carbon sequestration. First stop: Bungoma, Kenya.

Once they arrive at the re:char production site they are unloaded and prepared for their new function.

Primary air intakes and collection chambers are fabricated. Heat insulation wraps are added. Heavy gauge steel lids and chimneys are designed and attached.

The drum is now a Rutuba Kiln.

Once an inventory has been established, fully fabricated and packaged kilns are loaded in to smaller lorries and sent to distribution nodes around western Kenya.

Sales teams operating in the designated areas source kilns from these inventory nodes each time a sale is made. Delivery is arranged, often by motorbike (piki piki), and the kilns start their new lives on small hold western Kenyan farms as producers of organic, carbon negative biochar.

After about a week of use, that drum will have sequestered more atmospheric carbon than was produced by the burning of the oil it previously contained.

Karmic balance achieved.

The post Oil Drum Karma appeared first on re:char.

… is about as concise a way as possible to sum up our most recent round of customer testimonials. A few profiles below.

Patrick Walela

Farming Experience: 10 years

Family: Patrick has a wife and nine children, eight of whom are in school.

Farm: Patrick and his family farm one acre of land. They grow maize, sugar cane, and bananas while raising pigs, chickens, and cows.

Residence: Musamba (western Kenya)

With eight children in school, fees are a huge expense for Patrick and his family. Since the farm is their only current source of income, keeping expenses low and yields high is very important.

Patrick is committed to organic farming and was already using compost as a fertilizer before being introduced to re:char and the Rutuba Kiln earlier this year. Being the type of person who enjoys trying new things, Patrick gave biochar a try.

This past growing season he applied biochar to ¼ of his farm – to an area where he was growing maize. Last season he was able to harvest 5 sacks of maize from that area. This year, growing with biochar as well, he saw a 30% yield improvement: a total harvest of 6.5 sacks.

With that additional income Patrick and his wife, Judith, are much better equipped to put their young children through school.

He is already preparing even more biochar for this season having seen how much of an impact it can have!

Jane Makhanda

Farming Experience: 12 years

Family: Jane has four children, three of whom are currently in school.

Farm: Jane and her family farm three and a half acres of land. They grow maize, beans, and potatoes while raising two cows.

Residence: Kabula (western Kenya)

Jane and her family have been using biochar since it was introduced to them earlier this year. Luckily they were able to purchase their Rutuba Kiln before the long-rains planting season. She was able to make a significant amount of biochar and applied it to the area of her farm where she was growing cow peas and maize.

To her amazement, her maize harvest improved from 9 sacks to 10! This was most impressive to her because she used no inorganic fertilizer, only biochar!

Jane was also very happy to see how much healthier and larger all of her cow pea leaves looked, making them much more nutritious as well as much more attractive to purchasers. The cost of her kiln was completely covered within one season by the combination of yield improvement and fertilizer reduction.

Additionally, she has been able to use biochar to make cooking briquettes that have allowed her to completely replace traditional lump charcoal – a major source of deforestation.

Thanks to her relationship with re:char, Jane is now committed to non-wood charcoal and organic farming practices that she sees as beneficial to her wallet, her family’s health, and the environment.

Joseph Odhiambo

Farming Experience: 5 years

Family: Joseph has five daughters, all of whom are currently in school

Farm: Joseph and his family have a seven acre farm where they grow a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and staple crops.

Residence: Kabula (western Kenya)

After working for Nzoia Sugar (a local sugar plant) as a Field Assistant for many years, Joseph decided to commit himself fully to farming. With crops including papaya, mango, ground nuts, sesame, and soy beans (in addition to maize), he is clearly a farmer who enjoys immersing himself in a variety of experiences.

Being a very driven, ambitious man, Joseph committed himself fully to biochar production once he heard about its benefits and was able to buy his own kiln. After application he waited.

Four months later he harvested his maize and, to his amazement, he had harvested an additional three bags thanks to biochar!

He is now applying it to every crop he is growing, resulting in some very healthy looking beans, and what is sure to be another very productive maize crop.

In addition to his improved yield, Joseph also saw an 80% reduction in inorganic fertilizer use!

Like many re:char customers, Joseph brought attention to how valuable crop waste has become to him. Material that he had typically disposed of or burned in the past was now carefully collected and laid out in the sun to dry. A practice similar in care to the drying of harvested maize kernels.

With repeated successful harvests, Joseph hopes to purchase more land to expand his farming activities. This is a man who loves what he does.

The post This stuff works appeared first on re:char.

We are big fans of developing business strategies from empirical data. This can be a bit challenging when working in rural Kenya with what are typically painfully inconsistent data sources. Nevertheless we’ve managed to have some success.

Each time we make a sale we collect information from our new customer – simple things like crops grown, livestock owned, farm size, family size, etc. One thing we found is that our customers are three times as likely to own a cow as the average farmer in the areas where we work.

In case you were wondering, there is very little that owning a cow will do to improve a farmer’s ability to use our kiln.

What cow ownership does indicate, however, is a commitment to farming. At about 25,000ksh (a little over $300) a cow can cost a family five months of average expenses in one fell swoop.  Its milk output can more than cover this cost over time, but cow ownership still requires two important character traits:

1. Willingness to make significant investments in farming capital that pay back over time
2. Above average risk tolerance

Both of these traits are necessary of Rutuba Kiln owners as well. The value of the kiln is found over time in both yield improvements and input reductions – benefits typically not realized until at least three months to a year out. For a cash-strapped small hold farmer this is a risky proposition, but one that can appear less and less risky as more and more people are having positive experiences with this new technology.

We decided to start working with the Ministry of Livestock in an attempt to turn this interesting data in to results, and it worked.  In one case, we were holding a demonstration at a farmer’s home. During the demonstration a calf was born. The host liked the demo – and the kiln – so much that she named the calf “re:char” as a thank you. She also bought a kiln.

Through collaboration with the Ministry we have been able to access about 70 dairy farmer groups within the greater Bungoma area. After having demonstrated to about a half dozen of these groups we realized that our conversion rate had just about doubled compared to our typical demonstrations. We are now committing a greater number of our Sales Representatives to demonstrating for these groups to increase sales efficiency and kiln adoption.

Through data-driven strategies like this we will be quadrupling our sales coverage over the course of the next three months, efficiently identifying the early adopters who are leading the black revolution in western Kenya.

The post Cows! appeared first on re:char.