Lesiolo Grain Handlers Limited Going With The Grain

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1 Lesiolo Grain Handlers Limited Going With The Grain

2 Lesiolo Grain Handlers Limited Going with the Grain The first private-owned grain handling facility in Kenya is planning to more than double the size of its facilities over the next few years as it seeks new investment partners Written by: Ella Copeland Produced by: Lauren Allen >>> Having reached its 10th year of operation, Lesiolo Grain Handlers Ltd (LGHL) is planning an ambitious expansion in Kenya and the surrounding region, to cement its position as the number one private grain handling facility in East Africa for years to come. As the company has reached a debt-free state from its initial investment, Managing Director and Founder Carl Tundo plans to take on more investments to expand LGHL s footprint, following the recent construction of a new seed handling facility. My father has been farming out here for about 40 years; we came up with this idea for the company about 12 years ago, but actually got going and finished construction of the grain handling facility in March We are now debt free from our initial loan and our plan is to build other facilities in the region, in East Africa; 2 3

3 Lesiolo Grain Handlers Limited Going with the grain Tanzania and Uganda are key. We are looking also to double the size of our current facility, which is 30,000 tonnes, to cope with our current business. That s the immediate plan. Following the construction of a new 200,000 seed handling facility which caters for maize and wheat seed for local farmers in the region, the company is hoping to increase its storage capacity to 100,000 tonnes. To complete this next round of investment in addition to extending into other countries, Tundo is looking into a range of finance options, including partnership with other businesses or NGOs. Our future partners will be sources of finance, which are maybe looking to invest in Tanzania, we d partner with them to replicate what we ve done here, whether they are private equity investors, companies or NGOs. We re looking at raising 15 million which will firstly LGHL is looking to expand Caption for photo here 4 We re looking at raising 15 million which will firstly expand our existing capacity by 60% which will cost roughly 4 million, then the rest will be utilised to install grain storage facilities in the major grain regions in the county and across the border expand our existing capacity by 60 percent which will cost roughly 4 million, then the rest will be utilised in several grain storage facilities in the major grain regions in the county and across the border, said Tundo. Handling every situation Since the start of the company, which begun with just 25 employees, Tundo has been required to think on his feet, using his expertise in agricultural engineering partnered with farming knowledge to jump each hurdle that presented itself. This has left the company with a can-do attitude, which has taken Tundo and his staff on a journey from complete rookies seeking training from overseas to experts within the region. Since inception, we ve all been on a teach-ourselves learning basis. We got some training from various US organisations sending qualified people who had run these sorts of businesses but locally there isn t much there so we re self-taught. We have around 80 direct staff at the moment. We ve got internal programmes to improve efficiency every year and systems. We have a different style; a flexible and rewarding work environment, said Tundo. Tundo s innovative approach to business development has facilitated the creation of the new Warehouse Receipts Scheme, which aims to secure famers a greater profit by allowing them to store their grain as collateral against Grain storage facility 5

4 TURNKEY CIMBRIA.COM WE CONGRATULATE LGHL Lesiolo Grain Handlers Limited Going with the grain Supplier Profile FOR THEIR 1O YEARS OF OPERATION AND ARE PROUD TO BE THEIR PARTNERS IN DEVELOPMENT Cimbria East Africa Cimbria, a world leader in grain processing technology, offers solutions for intake, cleaning, grading, coating and conditioning of various grain and seed products. It delivers efficient and controlled technology processes, equipment and plants for handling and storing crops while focusing on increasing quality and energy efficiency and improving cost-effectiveness. Its offering includes physical equipment for handling grains and seed processing as well as laboratory equipment for quality control. These solutions positively impact the quality and quantity of seed and grain, hence affecting crop production and storage. Website: Cimbria East Africa Ltd. Muiri Lane 10, Off Langata Road P.O.Boks 24580, Karen - Nairobi, KENYA Phone: / info@cimbria.co.ke CONVEYING DRYING SEED PROCESSING ELECTRONIC SORTING STORAGE TURNKEY Visit us online: We cover the surface, because the world needs protection. Design and manufacture of cost effective turnkey plant and equipment, tailor made to meet the vast variety of metal surface treatment requirements and applications. VJL has successfully supplied state-of-the-art continuous and indexing type process plants for a variety of applications, using our in depth knowledge of electroplating processes. For more information please visit us online at Click here T: +27 (0) F: +27 (0) Regency Drive, Route 21 Coprorate Park, Irene Ext. 31, Centurion, SA I would hope that in five years we are at 100, ,000 tonnes storage in the region and we have a Warehouse Receipt System operating in all of those facilities which would be a huge benefit to all the farmers in the area LGHL portable silo a loan, enabling the farmers to sell the crops out of season, when the market is stronger. A number of Kenyan and international banks are in discussion with the company to hold grain as collateral for loans provided directly to farmers. This is a major step towards improving farmer access to bank credit, the lack of which is very often cited as a major impediment to improving small farmer livelihoods. We provide the drying, cleaning and storage services for grain to get it to the quality that buyers and millers want. We ve also set up the Warehouse Receipt Scheme, which 7

5 Lesiolo Grain Handlers Limited Going with the grain STATISTICS Industry: Agriculture Head office, Nakuru, Kenya Founded: 2002 allows farmers to bring their crops here and gain access to finance using grain as security. At the time of harvest, the prices drop and then three to five months later the prices start climbing again, so we set up a programme with a couple of banks where famers can use the grain as collateral to go and service their immediate needs and sell the grain when the prices go up, explained Tundo. Through trying to benefit farmers and develop the industry in this way, Tundo has ensured that LGHL is secure in the market, where it currently handles only around 2.5 percent of marketed grain production in Kenya, where the company work with East African Maltings and grain processors such as Proctor & Allen (EA), in addition to dealing with a number of the local farmers and Millers. There is considerable scope to substantially increase farm yields and increase the volumes of grain handled by LGHL by providing services to farmers which help them to increase their revenues. On the production side, a lot of it has been word of mouth with the services which we supply. We have been involved with radio stations and with NGOs related to farming to spread the word on how farmers can benefit from improved handling and storage, and from Warehouse Receipting, and as it is quite a small market we are able to reach out to them through a personalised relationship. We try to meet customer needs to stabilise prices as much as possible, as world grain prices are increasing year on year and local prices can be very volatile. By following his ambitious investment plan Tundo hopes to stay ahead of the competition, as he is expecting external companies to begin investing in Kenya. I would hope that in five years we are at 100, ,000 tonnes storage in the region and we have a Warehouse Receipt System operating in all of those facilities which would be a huge benefit to all the farmers in the area. We ll continue to provide model grain handling operations but deal with a bigger percentage of the famers that we now deal with. We re just trying to professionalise the whole industry, concluded Tundo. Headquarters: Nakuru, Kenya Key People/Titles: Carl Tundo - Managing Director Products: Grain Revenue: Not disclosed Employees: 80 Website: Visit us online: 8 9

6 Lesiolo Grain Handlers Limited P.O. box , Lanet, Nakuru, Kenya. Tel: /3 Fax: Powered by: FIND OUT MORE >>