The Toothpick Project arms smallholder farmers with bio-herbicide technology to help them kill striga, a destructive parasitic weed attacking the roots of staple crops in sub-Saharan Africa.
The project's primary objective is to have the bio-herbicide reach Small Holder Farmers (SHF) on a large scale. The team pursued this goal by conducting experiments in three key areas:
Striga (witchweed), considered the worst pest threat to African food security, is an increasingly destructive parasitic weed on 40 million farms across sub-Saharan Africa.
Attacking the roots of staple crops (maize, sorghum, millet, cowpea, dryland rice, etc.), it depletes farmers' yield by 20 to 100 percent on 50 million hectares of croplands in Africa. Eighty-five percent of maize smallholder farmers in Kenya are women, making Striga a gender-sensitive food security issue.
Toothpick’s bio-herbicide technology is one of the first commercialized bio-herbicides in the world. The novel innovation’s initial target weed is the menacing Striga (witchweed), with the pilot social enterprise in Kenya. When a farmer loses 20-100 percent of their yield to this devastating weed, using the Kichawi Kill bioherbicide to restore their crop yield breathes new life into their farm, providing food security and income.
Using strains of a locally sourced fungus selected for inhibitory amino acid excretion, the innovation is safe, effective, affordable, host-specific, and environmentally friendly. The original version of the product was delivered to farmers on toothpicks, hence the name ‘Toothpick’. In June 2023, an exciting new seed coating product was approved, providing the product for a lower price with a longer shelf-life and a simpler distribution system. The company is currently operating in Kakamega, Kisumu, Bungoma, Busia, Siaya, HomaBay, and Migori Counties in Western and Nyanza, Kenya.
With the new seed coating product launch, the Toothpick team is quickly scaling up manufacturing with an equipped lab and clean room, as well as the acquisition of a freezer for production, a packaging machine, and a solar power system to keep the production running smoothly. The team is testing and evaluating distribution channels and marketing to farmers. The company is expected to reach scale in 2025.
In anticipation of expanding beyond Kenya, a team of scientists from thirteen sub-Saharan African countries was trained in 2018. These researchers will help prepare for the steps for commercialization in their countries, using the Kenya pilot as a model for replication. Beyond Africa and striga, the biocontrol technology is poised to rock the US$ 34 billion herbicide market with one of the first effective, safe, and cost-effective solutions.
