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ALUMNI PROFILES
“Pursue something that interests you.
If you’re passionate about something you’ll
be good at it, and if you’re good at something,
eventually someone will pay you to do it!”
in,” he recalls. “Small villages built up the
sides of the extinct volcano, with views
looking out over the wildlife parks below.”
Two years later, Jason and his young
family moved to Uganda, where he began
buying cocoa and vanilla, as well as coffee,
which were being produced by one acre
smallholders. “We found that we were
almost becoming a development agency,
running projects to teach tens of thousands
of farmers about sustainable farming
practices and bringing them into our supply
chain. I formed partnerships with DFID,
USAID, development banks, the World
Bank, and various Ugandan ministries,
before a separate foundation was finally
established. I then became Head of the
Foundation for East Africa, which allowed
me to expand these programmes into
Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, and Ethiopia.”
After eight years living and working in
Uganda, Jason’s personal highlight was
setting up a 15,000 strong farmer
co-operative. “Thanks to two years, five
million euros from the European Union
and the US Government, and a lot of
patience, we launched an extensive
training programme teaching farmers about
good governance, target setting, and
budgets, as well as sustainable agriculture
techniques. I’m pleased to report that the
programme is still up and running today.”
In 2008, Jason was appointed Managing
Director of Tropical Farm Management
Ltd which then managed 60% of Kenya’s
coffee estates. “A lot of the estates were
run down, and some were in the hands
of the banks, so the job was to farm
them back to profitability. This was largely
achieved through a period of high coffee
prices, although I did have a six million
dollar budget and access to some very
advanced farm management software!”
Jason and his family moved back to the
UK in 2013, and while he’s relishing the
challenges of his new position, he’s also
enjoying being back in contact with his
old friends from Cirencester. Looking
back at his career so far, Jason has a few
words of wisdom for the next generation
of RAU graduates. “Pursue something
that interests you. If you’re passionate
about something you’ll be good at it, and
if you’re good at something, eventually
someone will pay you to do it!”