By Eric Ishahak
Nanyuki is about 3 hours outside of the capital city Nairobi on the equator line in the shadows of Mt. Kenya. The managing director of Eco Fuels Kenya (EFK), Myles Lutheran, is a Northeastern alum and I have the privilege of being his first ever co-op in an exciting growth period. EFK produces energy and agriculture products for industrial customers through a no-waste manufacturing process based entirely on the Croton nut, which grows indigenously across 8 African countries and has no other commercial, productive or edible use. We work with rural farmers through local partnerships who see EFK as a positive impact in their communities because it brings additional income to households that would otherwise not be available from this nut that has been growing in their backyards for generations. We recently had our first ever entrepreneur’s forum for our farmers and nut collectors to better improve their business practices and to get their input on what we can be doing better to help them in the long run. The croton nut is an ideal cash crop because it requires no ground prep, farming inputs, or irrigation. Trees produce nuts 6 months out of the year in two 3 month seasons. Last year we collected about 500 tons and estimate over 1,000 for 2016. EFK is able to harvest 100% of the nut into biofuel oil, poultry feed, and fertilizer. The enterprise is sustainable because we have mastered the production process and purposely avoided rapid growth to ensure a solid foundation to build upon. We are going to plant about 50,000 trees this year at local schools who we will then support by paying them for the nuts the trees produce.
My role at EFK includes supporting upper management, implementing accounting standards, procedures and other financial controls. EFK is also set to be receiving their first major grant in Q1 of 2016 that I will managing the reporting on as well as maintain investor relations. The current project I have undertaken is to implement an inventory management system to sync with our accounting software while working with factory directors to make sure it fits what they need as well. When I am not working I usually go to a nearby gym, play basketball at a local boarding school, visit a transition home for street kids or just hang out in town. The British military occupies a training facility right outside of Nanyuki so it is relatively safe and has many western features.
My personal experiences here have been pretty amazing so far. I went on camping trip to help estimate the population of the endangered Grevy Zebra in conjunction with Princeton University, which the US Ambassador to Kenya was a part of.
Also, during spri
ng break one of my friends from Northeastern came to visit and we went white water rafting on the Nile in Uganda, went on a safari, visited an animal orphanage, and hiked Mt. Kenya for 3 days (the 2nd largest mountain in Africa). I also recently traveled to Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania, for the Easter holiday.
Overall, this experience has had a dramatic change of what I want in terms of career or how I see myself living post graduation. In the meantime, I have accepted a position at PricewaterhouseCoopers but I am still open minded about what I want to do and where I want to live. Deciding to take Professor’s Shaughnessy Social Enterprise class has changed my life and am grateful for all of the amazing opportunities Northeastern provides!
