Meet Edith Tendo Okello

Meet Edith Tendo Okello, a passionate Human Rights specialist and social entrepreneur who’s dedicated to transforming the Ugandan food system through regenerative agriculture. Learn more about her journey as an entrepreneur thus far.

Introduction 

A woman who reaches her maximum potential is an embodiment of valor. Edith Tendo is a passionate Human Rights specialist who found her calling in regenerative agriculture and continues to maximize her potential in Agriculture and social entrepreneurship. She is a Christian, a mother, a wife, a trained social scientist and a dedicated entrepreneur who strives to impact the food system of Uganda. 

Born and raised in Luwero, Edith observed the intricate challenges like limited income, food loss and synthetic farming solutions that farmers faced which motivated her to pursue social entrepreneurship to address those challenges. 

Edith Tendo Okello at the Rootical 2023 pitch day.

“I grew up closely watching farmers and the challenges they faced concerned me, I needed to find a solution to barriers like limited finances for farmers and food loss” says Edith.

Entrepreneurial journey 

Having worked closely with farmers for several years, her experience between 2021 and 2022 was particularly transformative. During this period, Edith engaged extensively with pineapple farmers. 

“ I witnessed small-scale pineapple farmers' dedication to farming, yet their hard-earned fruits often ended up rotting. This heartbreaking reality spurred me into action. I was on the lookout for opportunities to gather knowledge and skills on how to solve these challenges and eventually landed on Rootical,” Edith affirms. 

The Rootical boot camp was a pivotal moment, allowing Edith to delve deeper into the issue of food loss and this ignited her entrepreneurial spirit more. Her journey included visiting several companies in Uganda and Kenya, as well as cooperatives, to determine whether the food loss stemmed from the farmers, vendors, or other factors.

Edith co-founded Plenti with Rootical, an agri-food business that addresses the challenge of food loss through post harvest handling and aflatoxins by providing solar drying as a service. Plenti offers solar drying as a service to combat aflatoxins and farm-gate food losses while drying 6 times faster.

Redefining success as an entrepreneur 

True success for Edith means meeting the farmers' needs, solving their problems, and ensuring the business model is commercially viable, scalable and impactful. Essentially, success is about creating a win-win situation where farmers benefit from reduced losses and increased income, while the business thrives.

“I envision a future where our efforts result in an abundance of high-quality grain and zero food loss,” Edith adds. 

Edith further envisions high income for farmers, aligning perfectly with the name "Plenti." When food is saved, it translates into higher sales and improved livelihoods. Her goal is to ensure that farmers produce efficiently, enjoy desired incomes, and contribute to a better quality of life for all. 

Building with Rootical has been an enriching experience for Edith, offering numerous opportunities for personal discovery and growth. It provided her with the financial and non financial resources to engage with farmers and gain a broad perspective on transforming the agricultural ecosystem.

“Collaborating with like-minded and brilliant individuals has been particularly inspiring!,” Edith exclaims. 

Entrepreneurial achievements 

One of Edith’s significant achievements was starting a money-lending business that addressed the issue of low finances for farmers. However, she soon realized this was only one part of the solution. 

“I realized that my money lending business only tackled one challenge of limited finances. Plenti, on the other hand, is a business that tackles multiple problems in the food system, including low productivity, wastage, and the provision of healthy food for consumers,” Edith reaffirms. 

Future prospects 

By 2030, Edith’s ambition is to serve about 10,000 farmers who will testify to reduced food loss and the availability of healthy, quality grain. She further envisions a future with low levels of aflatoxins in grains ensuring smallholder farmers achieve better incomes and enhanced livelihoods.

Edith (left) at the Rootical 2023 pitch day.

“I hope to leave a legacy where people remember Plenti as a pivotal force that addressed food system challenges in Uganda. My aspiration is for Plenti to be recognized for transforming the face of regenerative agriculture in the country,” adds Edith. 

Overcoming challenges and lessons 

One of the major challenges that Edith continues to encounter as an entrepreneur is the ever-changing needs of her clientele. Edith realized that to address this challenge, entrepreneurs must create a business capable of addressing multiple pain points for farmers, ensuring that their solutions are adaptable, comprehensive and context specific. 

“A crucial lesson I've learned is the importance of listening to customers. As an entrepreneur, the moment you stop listening to your customers is the moment you start to fail. Continuous feedback and adaptation are key to sustaining and growing the business,” Edith concludes.