Today, eucalyptus is the characteristic feature of the natural landscape and a very important aspect of small holder livelihood in most parts of E.Africa ie Uganda,kenya Tanzania and Ethiopia. At the moment Ethiopia holds the largest eucalyptus plantation I the region with kenya boasting over 250000 acres of the tree.With that in mind, groupyfarm intends to supply 10m seedlings to treepreneur across the region in the next 5yrs. It’s come to our attention, thanks to the time and effort spent on research, that the farmers in the region are largely cultivating E.citiodora,camaldulensis species. These species are favoured because of the nature of their trunk(straight and tall) making them ideal choice for poles in the booming construction industry. These species are however, are not the best for essential oil as they have low concentration of cineole compound concentration(below 70%) hence mild smell and less effective for treatment purposes.E.globolus on the other hand has high concentration of cineole compound, above 70% making it effective for treatment of various illness. Essential oil is widely employed in the medicine, perfume and food industries as natural additives.
For time immemorial, eucalyptus tree has been grown over and over in the E.Africa region. It has become a very important aspect of livelihood to smallholder farmers in most parts of E.A with Ethiopia leading the region in coverage. With the booming construction industry,we can only brace ourselves for more acreage of the species. Its absurd though that these trees are felt down in their 4-5yrs of existence poles for use in the construction industry and for electric poles. It may take a little longer for the latter, but nevertheless, one is left wondering...where or what happens to the millions of tones of leaves and small branches from these cut trees? Well your suspicions is as good as ours at groupyfarm. They are either burnt to ashes or left to rot away and that is really absurd. But like the old saying goes “one man’s meat is another man’s poision”. Groupyfarm will harness this opportunity and start extracting essential oils from these suppose “useless” leaves and branches.We shall approach the treepreneurs and negotiate with them on how best we can help them dispose off the unwanted leaves on their behalf. You can call us the ‘cleaner’.
GROUPYFARM,a digital crowdfunding platform and a top South Africa company with over 30+ years in the essential oil industry, invaluable knowledge and expertise in the industry, have identified land suitable for the cultivation of lemon grass, geramine and peppermint. The said land measures 1000acres located in central Uganda Lemongrass and geramine are high value crops whose oil extract are widely employed in the medicine,perfume and food industries as natural additives. Essential oil is a multi-billion dollar industry...$20.8BN to be exact and still growing at a rate of 9.4% 2021-2028. With demand still growing and with the world still under the threat of covid19,one can only brace for a bumpy future. Essential oils is used to treat cold, sooth cough, antiflamatory as well as insect repellant. The said project is estimated to cost about $$$$$, therefore, groupyfarm invites investors and the general public at large to make financial contributions towards the said project in order to commence business ASAP. For more info. On lemongrass, geramine and essential oil, please click here.
According to groupyfarm impact program, smallholder household is defined as one who owns less 10acres of land ,lives below the poverty line(less than $2 per day),struggles to send children to a decentschool, lacks access to a proper medical facilities, cant afford all the day’s meals ie b/fast, lunch, andsupper among other inhumane conditions.There are millions of households across Africa who fall under this category. Although there has beentremendous efforts by the respective govts to improve or totally uplift this category out of adjectpoverty, no such effort has yielded any positive results. This is largely due to the short comings fromgovts in the form of corruptions,beaucracy,lack of sensitizations among others. Hence persistence inpoverty escalation.Groupyfarm impact program identify such needy households and try to support them. Our approach isvery simple, go down the grassroot, sensitize the masses on the importance and benefits of high valuecroops/plants(HVP/C) as opposed to the traditional crops.Our missions here is mindset change. By painting them a picture of what they can achieve from a smallpiece of land. Take for instance, on one acre of geramine, one can rip between $6000-$8000 in a year asopposed to beans $2000-4000 same period. With that kind of return from one household, picture100,000 household. This translate to more money in circulations and more spending power and theripple effect in the community.
