Kiran Shylaja (Chief Commercial Officer), Mike Rhodes (CEO-AAGR), Gora Seck (President-LFT), Russell Read (Board Member) confer at AAGR’s Farm at Richard Toll, Senegal
Pivot irrigation at LFT is designed to maximize the efficiency of water utilization
Aerial view shows how arable land at LFT is being rejuvenated
• AAGR well poised to provide critically-needed alfalfa and forage to fast-growing Senegal
• Introducing international best practice standards, infrastructure
African Agriculture Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AAGR)
— Gora Seck, President of LFT-Senegal
RICHARD TOLL, SAINT-LOUIS, SENEGAL, July 1, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — Mike Rhodes, CEO of African Agriculture Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: AAGR), announces an enhanced vision for sustainable agriculture at scale to meet the strong demand for agricultural products including animal feeds and grains throughout Africa from its base in Senegal.
Since joining the company in February 2024, Mr. Rhodes has conducted extensive on-the-ground engagements with the communities in Senegal as well as regionally across West Africa. These engagements, combined with Rhodes’ decades of experience developing and managing large scale agricultural projects globally, has resulted in a clear vision for African Agriculture to expand its product mix beyond the initial 750 acres of alfalfa production at its farm in Senegal—Les Fermes de la Teranga (“LFT”)—to meet the significant consumer demand for agricultural products generally and chronically-needed animal proteins including meats and dairy in particular.
According to both United Nations and World Bank estimates, Africa will account for a 60% majority of the world’s population growth over the coming three decades, leading to an expected doubling of the continent’s current population 1.4 billion to 2.8 billion people by the year 2050. Consequently, the continent’s consumer demand for food, including animal proteins, is rising proportionately. Moreover, according to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (“FAO”), the continent’s strong trends towards increasing urbanization are also accelerating demand for meats and dairy in urban areas especially, which is expected to triple by mid-century. It is in this context that AAGR’s farm at LFT is uniquely positioned to responsibly provide a meaningful portion of Senegal’s needs for animal feeds and related grains. AAGR’s enhanced plan for agricultural diversification and sustainable infrastructure development also enables the implementation of international best practice standards to enhance the sustainability of the farming operations, with significant benefits to soil quality and a reduction in water and fertilizer consumption, leading to both higher yields and lower costs.
Having joined AAGR in February of 2024, Mr. Rhodes brings decades of commercial agricultural success across the United States, East Africa, and West Africa, with a specialization across a full range of animal feeds including new cultivars which are increasingly water efficient, restorative to local soils, and able to adapt to local growing conditions. “By introducing international best practice standards for crop diversity and rotation, seed application as well as water, fertilizer, and energy utilization, we have the opportunity to make LFT among the most productive and sustainable farms for growing a range of high-value animal feeds globally,” Mr. Rhodes stated. “From a commercial perspective, AAGR will also be able to expand its current 750 acres under cultivation to fill out its full farm allocation of nearly 50,000 acres, enabling it to profitably meet dairy industry and consumer demands at a meaningful scale.”
Mr. Gora Seck, the President of LFT in Senegal added, “Trucks come regularly to LFT to acquire our high-quality alfalfa to help meet the pressing needs of dairy farmers across the country. Frankly speaking, we could increase our production by multiples tomorrow and still not satisfy even local demand in Senegal, let alone the dairy industry’s demand across West Africa. By focusing on local and regional customers, and by sharing water resources, grazing land, and sustainably propagated feedstocks with the local communities that are proximate to LFT, we are able to raise up the economic, ecological, and health benefits to thousands of our neighbors.”
“AAGR intends to provide full transparency of its sustainable agriculture practices, community partnerships, and economic benefits to the country of Senegal and its investors as its operations expand in the months and years ahead,” concluded Mr. Rhodes.
ABOUT AFRICAN AGRICULTURE HOLDINGS INC
AAGR is the first “pure play” publicly-traded US company dedicated to bringing the large and increasing scale of African agriculture opportunities to global investors. AAGR seeks to offer high-quality animal feeds and related products to the West African region from its base at Richard Toll near St. Louis, Senegal.
SOURCE: African Agriculture Holdings Inc
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Mr. Kiran Peethambaran Shylaja
African Agriculture Holdings Inc
+91 99746 08080
ks@africanagriculture.com
