Mr. Toyin Kayo-Ajayi, originally from Nigeria, has emerged as a trailblazer in Canadian agriculture, with a rich entrepreneurial history spanning over two decades. His journey from Ekiti State, Nigeria to becoming a distinguished business owner and agricultural professional (owning his own farm) in British Columbia, Canada, is a testament to his dedication, commitment to work, and expertise. He farmed with his grandparents from 5 years old and learned traditional African farming practices and natural food processing and preservation.
After settling in Canada in 2001, Mr. Kayo-Ajayi went into dairy farming in 2003, gaining a wealth of knowledge about Canadian farming practices and the agricultural business industry in Canada. Since 2005, he has been mentoring Black, African and Caribbean (BAC) farmers to enter into the Canadian agriculture industry, and in other business ventures within Canada. After 10 years of serving his community on the grassroots level, Mr. Kayo-Ajayi founded the Kara-Kata Afrobeat Society of Canada. It all started with music and food, hosting African cultural community events with his performance band, Kara-Kata Afrobeat Group. He now has 2 performance bands, composes his own music, and runs a community music program, and the African Foods Foodbank.
Since 2019, Mr. Kayo-Ajayi has spearheaded a groundbreaking agricultural project, the Kara-Kata Africa Village Project, where he has successfully experimented growing African cultural vegetables and herbs in Canada. He is paving the way for Black, African and Caribbean farmers and BAC food sovereignty in Canada. As part of this project, he has done extensive research on various farming practices and innovative technology that can benefit the Canadian and African agricultural industries through maximizing productivity, the growing seasons and natural/organic growing processes.
Beyond his personal achievements, Mr. Kayo-Ajayi has taken a leadership role in advocating for BAC farmers and BAC food sovereignty in Canada through awareness, education, agricultural conferences, and collaboration with other organizations, government bodies, and agricultural investors. In 2022, he founded the Canadian Black Farmers Association, which advocates for and creates opportunities for Black, African and Caribbean farmers in Canada. He is currently a board member of the Small Scale Food Processors Association of BC, and he does regular speaking engagements at agricultural and food security focused events.