Our technology in use for the future of agriculture in East Africa
On June 19, 2025, Green Legacy was one of only two companies from Austria invited to the Agritech4Kenya Innovation Challenge in Nairobi, Kenya – an international event that identifies and promotes promising agricultural technologies for the African region.
Our Managing Director Antonio de Vall personally traveled to Kenya to present our water-retaining soil additive Polygrain to a high-profile audience from the worlds of science, agriculture, start-ups, NGOs and politics. He was accompanied by a specially produced video, which highlights the functionality and impact of our technology.
What is the Agritech4Kenya Challenge?
The Agritech4Kenya Innovation Challenge was launched in 2024 by the international research platform CGIAR – Accelerate for Impact Platform together with local and global partners such as the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). The aim is to identify sustainable, scalable solutions for the challenges in the East African agri-food sector – and to provide targeted support for market entry.
The challenges are great:
Despite fertile soils, Kenya is dependent on food imports, and many smallholder farmers suffer from water scarcity, soil erosion, crop failures and a lack of market access. Agritech4Kenya therefore specifically promotes technologies that:
- Increase yields in a sustainable way
- Using and storing water more efficiently
- Increasing resilience to climate change
- Integrating women, young people and disadvantaged groups
- Improving access to financing and markets
After a multi-stage selection process (300+ applications, top 25 in the boot camp), the best solutions were presented, honed and further developed in direct exchange with practitioners at a four-day innovation camp in Nairobi.
A solution for dry times
Our water-retaining granulates – especially Polygrain – address precisely those problems that characterize everyday life in many parts of East Africa: long dry spells, irregular rainy seasons, sandy soils, high seedling losses.
Polygrain stores up to 200 times its own weight in water and releases it to plants as required, drastically reducing the need for irrigation. At the same time, it improves the soil structure and acts as a depot for nutrients. The technology is biodegradable, easy to use and ideal for small farms.
“We sensed how urgent the demand for pragmatic, ecologically sensible solutions is,” says Antonio de Vall. “Polygrain is not a high-tech toy – it is a technology that works, is affordable and has a real impact. This is exactly what became clear in Nairobi.”
