At Tokyo 8, we've already expanded our business to 25 countries in Africa and 4 countries in Asia.
The world’s population living in poverty is estimated to be one billion or more. Many of these are small-scale farmers who plant on around 1 acre (0.4 ha) of farmland. Farmers usually struggle to produce food for their own consumption while earning an income from their harvest. Under tough economic climate, it is also difficult to get supplementary income through jobs. If they can increase their harvest by 20%, they would increase both their daily cash and food supply. We hope to expand business in such countries, and currently have operations in 18 African and 7 countries in Asia.
A system tailored to local economics
We have started building a business model that matches local economies. We do this by setting up manufacturing franchises of our business that are run by local people. Sending the biofertiliser overseas would double or triple the price, making it almost unaffordable for local farmers. However, if Tokyo 8 is manufactured locally, production costs are minimized, and the final price is lowered. Many of our franchise partners are highly qualified people, some of whom previously studied in Japan or formerly did internships with our company. Not all of them are agriculture specialists, but they are determined to tackle socio-economic problems in their home countries.
Common to most developing countries, are the challenges of poverty, hunger and food security.
For example, our partner in Liberia, Mr. Jonathan, came across the Tokyo 8 project through our network after completing his studies in Japan. He started out by conducting local comparative trial cultivation of Tokyo 8 in Liberia using samples he received from Japan. After witnessing positive effects of increased harvests and arable control of pests and diseases, Tokyo 8 is now working on a school lunch program to improve food production and nutrition for Liberia's children, who will be responsible for the future of the country. The Tokyo 8 franchise is a business model in which small-scale Tokyo 8 manufacturing plants are set up in each rural village. The goal is to be able to supply vegetables to local communities even if logistics networks are poor or storage technology is weak. In other words, local production for local consumption by the local community. The same is true of the aforementioned Liberia school lunch project. We hope to contribute to malnourishment alleviation through social contribution projects with partners in various countries.