Creating Green Jobs, One Rural Community at a Time

When Richard Mwangi founded Organic Fields Limited, he had a bold vision: to tackle the growing problem of food waste in Nairobi while restoring the health of Kenya’s depleted soils. His solution? An innovative organic fertiliser made by composting market waste, enriched with biochar, rock meal, and other organic materials.

But like many purpose-driven entrepreneurs, Richard soon ran into key challenges. The business lacked strategic direction, clear customer segmentation, and solid financial systems.

“We knew the problem we were solving,” Richard reflects, “but we had serious gaps. How do we forecast growth, raise the right funds, or even segment the farmers we serve?”

That changed when Organic Fields joined AMI’s Grow Your Agribusiness programme.

Through AMI’s practical training and one-on-one coaching, Richard and his team began to reimagine the business. They developed a detailed five-year strategic plan and overhauled their financial systems, introducing formalised accounting, reliable projections, and investor-ready tools.“We restructured our entire financial department,” Richard explains. “The coaching helped us understand what investors look for and how to tell our story through numbers.”

The coaching also exposed two major blind spots: a narrow market focus and weak fundraising capacity. Organic Fields had been content serving existing customers, but their coach encouraged them to think bigger. “She helped us see new customer segments, explore new markets, and even sparked ideas for new product development. She told us, ‘You need to keep innovating’ - and that changed everything,” Richard says. 

The result? A compelling pitch deck, refined fundraising strategy, and fresh partnerships. More importantly, a mindset shift from maintaining a business to scaling one.

Perhaps most transformative was the shift in how Organic Fields approached its customers. Before AMI, they marketed broadly to ‘farmers.’ Today, they target distinct segments, from kitchen gardeners to export producers, with tailored products and messaging.“This changed everything. We now understand our customers better and can innovate around their specific needs.”

The programme’s impact didn’t stop at strategy. Today, Organic Fields employs over 70 people, 75% of whom are women and youth, working across waste collection, composting, and production.

The company has trained and deployed 20 field agronomists and more than 300 rural women as village-based agents who demonstrate products, train peers, and boost adoption in hard-to-reach areas.

“The programme helped us unlock both business growth and social impact, and that’s what makes it so powerful, ” Richard notes. 

From transforming waste into regenerative fertiliser to creating dignified green jobs in rural communities, Organic Fields is showing what’s possible when business and impact grow together.

“AMI helped us realise we had a bigger opportunity,” Richard says. “The programme challenged us to expand our reach, innovate our products, and empower more people.”

Now stronger, more strategic, and ready for scale, Organic Fields is charting a new path for sustainable agriculture in Kenya.