Alumni CYEL 2023 Finalists - Rushank Bardolia and Green Earth Agro

@Rushank Bardolia came to Luxembourg in 2009 to do his Master's in Finance at the University of Luxembourg. He is a founding partner at Green Earth Agro and a finalist for this year’s Creative Young Entrepreneur Luxembourg (CYEL) award. 

Tell us about Green Earth Agro

It is an agriculture company which makes climate-smart agriculture, it creates food while reducing carbon emission. Currently, 1 billion people do not have food in this world, and it is only going to get worse. There is going to be more and more people coming to this world and we do not have enough food to feed everyone. There must be a focus on growing food sustainably, because food also contributes to lot of carbon emissions. And that is the reason why we focus on creating food. In principle, our business model is that we take unutilized land from Africa, grow food on that land and try to tackle the food insecurity.

How was your time at Uni.lu and why did you decide to start a business?

It was a really good course and while doing my Master’s I also got an internship in the bank which later converted into my first job in Luxembourg. That is how my journey in Luxembourg started. I worked for 8 to 9 years in the fund industry, but I knew that this was not my calling. I wanted to do something meaningful and being in the fund administration business was not something very exciting for me. I really believe that climate change is a big problem and I wanted to do something about it. I did some research and found out that one of the biggest climate problems was palm oil. I decided to leave my job and go to Africa to make sustainable palm oil, and this is how the whole journey started.

_{CYEL’s 2023 Finalists (© CYEL)}

Was it difficult to make such a big life change?

Actually, it was very simple for me. I was 29 when I decided to do this, and I had a choice of doing something for another 30 years which I did not like or to find something new. There was no doubt in my mind that I did not want to be in the fund industry. I did not know what I would do to make enough money to live a good life, it was step by step process. What business has taught me is that you only start making money when you know about things in detail. It took me 6-7 years to become a subject matter expert in the fund industry. It took me a few years to become a subject matter expert in agriculture. 

To sum up, it was very clear in my mind what I do not want to do. The challenge was to decide what I should do, and this was a journey. Taking the first step is important. And once you do that and you are sure that this is what you want to do, you'll find a way.

What was the proudest moment for you so far?

I go to big events and meet many important people in the climatic field, but the proudest moment for me was when I went to a village which had nothing there and now we have a farm and a processing company which hires more than 7,000 people. That is the feel-good factor I have. It did not happen over one day, it was a whole journey. I never thought I could do agriculture in Africa. Now I live in a place without electricity, internet or running water. Never would I have thought after living a life of a banker in Luxembourg, I would be able to take that. In fact, it is more than a proud moment, it's an exciting part of my life.