Ecuador restaurateur saves about Sh300,000 weekly from Karen farm

Joaquin Ishara-Farm manager at Cultiva Farm(left) illustrates to visitors during a visit to Cultiva Farm in Karen on August 16, 2023. PHOTO | BILLY OGADA | NMG

Ariel Moscardi, the owner of Cultiva Farm in Nairobi’s Karen was just on a safari business when he visited Kenya in 2017. He fell in love with Kenya instantly.

Ariel grew up in Ecuador where he spent all his time. After training at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu school in Mexico, he started a catering business in Ecuador in 2014, hosting up to 1,000 people. That is where his business acumen was honed.

“The answer to good quality and high-end products means that you have to do it yourself,” said the 36-year-old after he started having problems with the ingredients they were using in meal preparation.

“I was like, why am I buying all these yet I don’t know where they come from,” he says.

Edible flower pictured at Cultiva farm on August 16, 2023. PHOTO | BILLY OGADA | NMG

That is how he started farming, and Cultiva was born, as a farm and a kitchen business. Ariel is a chef by profession.

“I then turned the business into an agriculture organic production of microgreens and edible flowers. That expanded to a supplier of a restaurant,” he says.

When he came to Nairobi, he says, he did not see such a concept.

“And I thought, this could be interesting to start. So I developed the idea of giving back to Kenya which I had fallen in love with,” he says.

He then managed to put up the restaurant and the farm, in 2019.

“We meticulously grow heirloom organic crops on our farm and practice sustainable agriculture to ensure unparalleled quality and freshness in every ingredient we use,” says Mr Moscardi.

Now in its third year, Cultiva is up and running as a much-welcomed permanent fixture in the Nairobi restaurant scene.

Cultiva he says means to cultivate; which is not only on the land but also on the community.

Cultiva Farm is exclusively a farm-to-fork affair the vegetables are only used at the restaurant. They do not supply.

Microgreens pictured on August 16, 2023 at Cultiva farm in Karen. PHOTO | BILLY OGADA | NMG

By farm- to- fork, Mr Moscardi says is accepting what we can extract from the farm, and being sustainable in the menu. “We only use the ingredients we have in the season, and that’s why our menus are printed daily. Our customers have to adjust.”

“In our culture, we understand that our demand can affect the supply. However, by removing dishes and adding new ones we are always training, and teaching our staff new things. That is the beauty of Cultiva,” he says.

Vegetable farming

Established on a one-and-a-half-acre piece of land, the garden occupies only a quarter acre, with over 50 species of purely organic vegetables.

Assorted vegetables at Cultiva farm on August 16, 2023. PHOTO | BILLY OGADA | NMG

Mr Moscardi says the establishment is a haven where organic heirloom crops flourish, and people’s skills and talents are nurtured.

Many agrovets have sections devoted to vegetable seeds, however, at Cultiva, they have invested in their seed reproduction which has saved them a lot of money, and time.

“At the beginning, we found people who had heirloom seeds, then we started reproducing them for ourselves. We no longer buy seeds. We have two acres designated for seed saving.”

“Our onsite farm has everything consumable on the day, anything that is leafy like microgreens lettuces, herbs, and edible flowers,” says Joseph Karanja, a gardener at the farm.

The vegetables, he says, do not require so much work as he practices pure organic farming.

“On red and black soil, the sprouting of flowers takes about 45 days depending on the conditions of the climate. Microgreens take six to 14 days to sprout,” says Mr Karanja.

The microgreens and edible flowers he says are consumed raw to get all the nutrients required, while other vegetables like lettuces are used for salad. The stems are thereafter turned into compost.

The farm has been on a saving spree from using its seeds, its water treatment, and the cost of farming, a move he says he has no regret over.

“The water treatment process which we use for farm irrigation saves us up to 5,000 litres every day, and we’ve put about Sh6 million for it.”

“We also embrace the spirit of upcycling, reusing materials, and minimising waste, additionally, we recognise our responsibility to care for the planet we call home,” he says.

Workforce

The farm has employed eight gardeners who have undergone full training on how to handle everything touching vegetables.

“They are a group of young and vibrant men who came without a career and received one. We train our employees ourselves. Generally, we take the cost of farming ourselves and it saves us up to Sh300,000 per week,” Mr Moscardi.

At a time when employers are laying off employees due to hard economic times, at Cultiva, the story is different.

“We don’t have a staff rotation because they understand the value of working in a company like this. They are all around, sometimes they are at the bakery, at the farm, or the kitchen cooking,”says Mr Moscardi.

Challenges

Just like any gardening business, Cultiva Farm has its share of challenges- climate change and inadequate water for irrigation topping the list.

Josephat Karanja-Gardener at Cultiva Farm pictured on August 16, 2023. PHOTO | BILLY OGADA | NMG

“The global effects of climate change have not spared us. The increased frequency of droughts has caused water shortages for crops making it difficult to plan planting and harvest times. Here we rely on a borehole which is not big enough to irrigate the farm as required,” says Mr Karanja.

“We, however, don’t have pests challenges since we don’t use any chemicals. We use chicken manure and companion plants.”

Mr Moscardi says they have no plans yet. “We are very happy as we are. We are taking time to consolidate and have a standard to be perfect. Currently, we are concentrating on what we have and making it better before we embark on another journey.”

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