Eldoret: Bio-chemical plant opens to boost farmers’ income

A Kenyan family-owned firm ISONS Group has re-incarnated East and Central Africa’s first bio-chemical plant based in Eldoret in a move set to boost the manufacturing and farming industries while aiding thousands of farmers to make a living out of corn cobs which mostly wind up as waste.

ISONS, which purchased the plant from its receiver managers Ernst & Young, has commissioned the plant with state-of-the-art technology. It sits on a 20-acre piece of land in the outskirts of Eldoret Town.

The firm, dubbed Bio-Corn Products Limited, is set to produce a specialty chemical known as furfural — a renewable organic chemical used as a solvent in the refining of lubricating oils, several pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, resins and plastics. The chemical also serves as an efficient pesticide and weed killer.

Furfural is also useful in the oil refining industry, as it is a crucial ingredient in the cracking process of crude oil. It is also an eco-friendly additive to rocket fuel.

Once the plant begins production in October this year, both the farming and manufacturing industries will benefit from Bio-Corn’s exploits.

Safe pesticides and weed killers will become available locally, effectively driving down costs farmers direct to them. More interestingly, the pesticides and weed killers will be a product of their farms—corncobs.

While much of the Furfural will be for export, local manufacturers will also benefit from the production process’s bi-products which include Acetic acid and Formic acid and will no doubt bring down their operation costs while promoting other local company’s operations.

The re-incarnation of the furfural plant will create a new eco-system with farmers, manufacturers and Bio-Corn its players.

Bio-Corn’s emergence has also come as good news to young, jobless Kenyans as it is set to directly employ 400 individuals in various capacities to ensure that the plant produces the highest quality products.

The firm will employ locally trained chemical, mechanical and electrical engineers, top and mid-level managers, and other staff to run its plant.

“It is a high impact business and will contribute significantly to the Kenyan economy in terms of GDP contribution and generating sustainable income for thousands more low-income individuals such as farmers, allowing them to commercialize on the main input—corncob—which would otherwise be waste,” Bio-Corn CEO Ashite Patel says of the venture.

Currently, alot of manufacturers use formic and acetic acid as inputs in the manufacture of their products. They have to import formic and acetic acid, which increases the cost of production that is eventually pushed to consumers.

The move to import the chemicals is a result of absence of local manufacturers.

Bio-Corn, will produce both Acetic acid and Formic acid as bi-products of the production process. The good news for buyers of consumer goods is that their cost of production could point to lower prices on the shelf.

The firm, having already obtained Export Processing Zone (EPZ) status, will also help Kenya earn revenue from the export of furfural.

“Due to the fact that furfural is an agricultural bi-product derived from biomass, the implications cannot be understated in an age where issues such as global warming are at the forefront of international issues. Due to its EPZ status, Bio-Corn will export majority of its final products with a smaller proportion of the chemicals being sold locally in the Kenyan market. This will increase much needed dollar-based inflow, helping to improve Kenya’s balance of payments deficit,” Mr Patel adds.

The Bio-Corn CEO says the firm aims to acquire at least 60,000 tonnes of corncobs annually, which will be bought from farmers.

Fortunately for Bio-Corn, Uausin Gishu County where the firm is based, is home to thousands of large and small scale maize farmers who will get the opportunity to earn revenue from corncobs that would otherwise go to waste. The proximity to farmers means transport costs will not hit the firm too hard.

Should the firm hit the 60,000 tonnes of corncobs target, it will be in a position to produce 5,000 tonnes of furfural, 2500 tons of Acetic Acid and 400 tons of Formic acid each year.

With furfural being a world-renown substitute for other toxic chemicals, its production by Bio-Corn is also in line with the pillars of Kenya’s Vision 2030 which aims to reduce emissions by up to 40 per cent.

Once fully producing, Bio-Corn will be only the second furfural plant in the whole of Africa after Illovo Sugar’s Sezela plant in South Africa and will be the only Furfural producer using corncob as it’s biomass in the continent. Bio-Corn will catapult Kenya to the forefront of global Furfural production.