AFSF 2026: Mutuma Muriuki is betting on himself at this year’s AFSF

1. Why is this year’s AFSF important to your work?

This year finds me at a real inflection point. Eco Bristo, my agribiotech company, is scaling our Soil Plus biofertiliser and our Kifaru/Chui/Ndovu solar-powered pest trap line to reach over 10,000 farmers. To facilitate this we’re working to raise $500K. At the same time, OFIMAK — the industry association I lead for organic fertiliser and input manufacturers in Kenya — is maturing from an idea into a functioning body. AFSF sits right at the intersection of those two roles: practitioner-entrepreneur building a product, and institution-builder trying to professionalise an entire input sub-sector. I need what the Forum offers on both fronts — capital and market access for Eco Bristo, and peer learning and policy connections for OFIMAK.

2. How are you looking forward to contributing your skills and expertise at the AFSF? 

My work boasts real numbers rather than theory: we have a verified 31% yield increase from Soil Plus, we have increased farmers’ Return On Investment 36 times over from our pest traps, and cross-border expansion into Uganda is already underway. I aim to contribute this progress in conversations about what’s actually working in African agritech at the point of sale, not just at pilot stage. On the OFIMAK side, I can speak to what it takes to organise fragmented organic input manufacturers into a credible, certifiable industry voice — a build that’s still rare on the continent.

3. What are the most important outcomes you are hoping will come out of the AFSF?

For my own work: investor conversations that move the $500K raise forward, and distribution or partnership leads for our pest traps beyond Kenya and Uganda. For OFIMAK: new development partners or funders alongside GIZ and Biovision, and stronger policy-level visibility for organic input certification standards. For food systems more broadly, I’d love to see stronger recognition that soil health and smallholder-level technology — not just top-down policy — are where real yield and export-quality gains happen.

4. Who are you most looking forward to meeting or hearing from at the AFSF, and why?

I am happy to meet investors that are looking to build in the food systems funders or blended finance, or peer founders in the AFF ecosystem.