Blog •  7/25/2018

Erica Duffy in Africa: Karibu! Welcome to my Kenya Journey

Written By Erica Duffy 
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Karibu means welcome in Swahili. I am so excited for this opportunity to share my experience in Kenya with all of you, and I want to welcome you to my blog as warmly as the people of Kenya have welcomed me!

When one of my predecessors, Kirk Morehead, arrived in Eldoret, Kenya, his first blog entry was entitled, Why are we in Kenya? This question is worth revisiting.

In 2013, a partnership began between Dow Agrosciences and AMPATH. Since then, our employees have been passionately engaged in providing aid in the area of food insecurity in Kenya.

Since 2013, four DAS employees, LaRon Beemer, Sarah Russell French, Osama Emara, and Kirk Morehead have traveled to Eldoret to work with farmer groups as part of the AMPATH Safety Net Program, the economic and agricultural development division of AMPATH.

With our AMPATH partners, we have developed successful demonstration plots, used to help teach farmers better agronomic practices. We have formed strong relationships with farmers and cooperatives. We have developed strong partnerships with non-government organizations (NGOs), government aid programs, and members of private industry, as we work to connect farmers to solutions.

The bar has been set very high for me as I continue the work here in Eldoret. The Corteva Agriscience™ Grows Food Security Kenya team has been working for the past year to prepare for my arrival in Kenya. I am excited to be the next "boots on the ground" team member and the first employee to work on site in Eldoret since we became Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of Dow DuPont!

With that, down to business!