Our seed portfolio

An innovation driven organization, Faina innovations is a registered seed merchant in Kenya delivering high quality tree seeds for the Kenyan market. We are the first and the only private seed company in Kenya trading on certified forest tree seeds.

By unlocking the latent power of tree seeds through our ideas, innovation and initiatives, we are driving unbounded growth for Faina innovations company as well as creating value for our customers and the nation.

We carry one of the largest selections of tree seeds (about 450 species) from Africa and selected exotic seeds including many Asian, South America and Australia species.

To provide quality, certified seeds to our customers, we have partnered with Kenya forest research institute (KEFRI). Through this public - private partnership arrangement, KEFRI is producing, processing and testing tree seed lots while Faina innovations is packaging, market and distributing the seeds to farmers and tree nursery operators country wide. All our seed are certified by KEPHIS, and packed and labeled as per the seed regulations.

We are now adopted farm input supply systems to reach most farmers. These systems includes, agrovets (farm inputs retail shops) farmers’ cooperatives/groups and tree nursery operators

Status of tree Seed supply system in Kenya

A sustainable supply of high quality tree seeds is fundamental to the success of agroforestry, re-afforestation and commercial forest scaling-up initiatives, and tree planting in general. The lack of high quality tree seeds and planting material has frequently been identified as a major constraint to the successful establishment of agroforest and forest systems in Kenya.

In Kenya, the tree seed sector is largely centralized, limiting access by farmers to high quality seeds and seedlings due to distant supply locations. It is estimated that government and NGOs deliver less than 10 % of the farmers’ certified tree seed demands in Kenya. This has left supply of most of the tree germplasm to the informal sector, characterized by seed dealers who have limited knowledge on tree seed quality requirements, sourcing, collection and production.

To bridge the gaps in supply of quality tree seeds in Kenya, we have partnered with Kenya forest research institute (KEFRI), so as to provide farmers and nursery seedling operators with quality tree seeds. Through this public private - partnership arrangement, KEFRI is producing, processing and testing seeds while Faina innovations is packaging, market and distributing the seeds to farmers and tree nursery operators country wide.

Status of forest covers in Kenya

Kenya’s forest cover is estimated to be about 7.4% of the total land area, which is a far cry from the recommended global minimum of 10%. On the other hand, Kenya’s closed canopy forest cover currently stands at about 2% of the total land area, compared to the African average of 9.3% and a world average of 21.4 per cent. Most of the closed canopy forests in Kenya are montane forests that are also the nation’s water towers. In recent years, Kenya’s forests have been depleted at an alarming rate of about 5,000 hectares per annum. This is estimated to lead to an annual reduction in water availability of approximately 62 million cubic metres, translating to an economic loss to the economy of over USD 19 million. The depletion has the potential to rollback strides towards the attainment of Vision 2030 and the Government’s Big Four Agenda of food and nutritional security, affordable and decent housing, universal healthcare and manufacturing, if it is not urgently addressed.

Investment opportunity

The demand for forest related goods and services have continued to grow with increasing population. Data from the World Bank indicates that Kenya currently has a forest cover of 7.8 per cent, representing a total of 44,130 square kilometres. A high consumption of wood products however frustrates the efforts aimed at bridging the short fall in the minimum forest cover amid an upsurge in illegal logging.

Projection by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) shows that the demand for wood products is set to increase sharply by 2032 with poles likely to witness the fastest growth at 58.2 per cent, building timber(43.2 per cent), firewood (16.1per cent) and charcoal 17.8 (per cent).

The overall supply of wood products is however projected to grow slower than the demand, increasing the deficit by 26.5 per cent to 13,064,250 square metres by 2032. According to KFS, the country currently has a wood supply potential of 31.4 million square metres against a demand of 41.7 million square metres..

The growing rural population and urban poor is also expected to push up the demand for charcoal and firewood. Because of the rising demand, firewood and charcoal deficit is projected to increase by 18.3 per cent and 19.1 per cent respectively.