About

Biovision Africa Trust (BvAT) is a not-for-profit organization established in Kenya in 2009 by the Biovision Foundation for ecological development in Switzerland and supported by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Nairobi. The Trust’s goal is to alleviate poverty and improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Kenya and other African countries through supporting dissemination of information and knowledge on appropriate technology to improve human, animal, plant, and environmental health.

Mission

To alleviate poverty and improve the livelihoods of rural communities in Africa through disseminating relevant agricultural information to small holder farmers and supporting like minded organizations and institutions.

Vision

To have a food secure African continent with healthy people living in a healthy environment.

Our Goal

To sustainably improve the lives of the people in Africa while conserving the environment as the basis for all life

What We DoResearch

BvAT conducts research on SA to generate technologies and create new knowledge that is key for the smallholder farmers practicing sustainable agriculture.

Information Communication

BvAT therefore packages this Knowledge in different formats (magazines, online database, videos, radio audios, trainers manuals etc) and disseminates it to different users.

Educating Farmers

We educate smallholder farmers on sustainable farming practices to help them improve their livelihoods while conserving the environment.

Resource Mobilization

BvAT supports resource mobilization strategies to provide grants/technical assistance to public charitable trusts or institutions working with rural communities in organic agriculture

Our History

The crisis of inadequacy and lack of sustainability in Agriculture and Food Security systems in Africa is widely felt and acknowledged. The African continent is still food insecure and the threat of intensive external-input based agricultural practices to the agro-ecosystems is becoming more and more evident. More people are developing illnesses related to the food they consume, while animal and plant health steadily deteriorates. The use of synthetic pesticides has already proven to be detrimental to the soils and plants, while the use of genetically modified seeds has cannibalized indigenous seed species that are resilient to the climate of Africa and therefore alternative efforts are required to deal with these challenges.

Against the aforementioned background Biovision Africa Trust (BvAT) started its operations in 2011 in Kenya, working with smallholder farmers to increase agricultural production and improve human, animal, plant and environment health through providing relevant and effective information based on research and proven practice. BvAT is currently implementing its Strategic Plan for the period 2021 – 2024.

Strategic Objectives

1. Facilitating adoption of agroecology (AE)/ ecological organic agriculture (EOA) practices among smallholder farmers, with a special focus on women and youth.
2. Supporting EOA value chain diversification and development for markets and trade at local, domestic and international levels.
3.  Supporting policy and institutional framework conditions for AE/EOA sector development in Africa through influencing and enacting ecological agriculture policies/strategies.
4. Strengthening BvAT’s operational and financial sustainability with a functional and sustainable business model that is based on realistic market assumptions.
5. Supporting innovations and socioeconomic research to provide useful and practical solutions facing smallholder farmers especially women and youth

Core Values

• Environmental stewardship
• Accountability and transparency
• Efficiency & Effectiveness
• Integrity
• Gender inclusivity and non-discrimination.