Building upon the experience of accelerating nearly 100 agriculture-related enterprises that have collectively saved, improved, or transformed 40 million lives and raised almost $100 million in capital following their participation in our programs, Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship is honored to support a new cohort of enterprises creating climate resilience in sub-Saharan Africa.
18 for-profit and hybrid organizations addressing food security through tech-enabled solutions are participating in Miller Center’s Food Systems Accelerator cohort, which runs September 2020 through February 2021. This program provides executive mentorship, targeted content, and strategic partnership with ecosystem supporters like Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, the African Green Revolution Forum, and the Sankalp Forum Africa Summit.
Over the course of the program, our primary goal is to maximize each organization’s opportunity to attract capital by supporting their development of a cohesive business and growth strategy that articulates a clear impact model, business model, financial plan, and operations plan. We believe this approach, scaffolded by our mentors — the trusted advisors who accompany these business leaders on their journey — enables business leaders to accelerate and increase the impact their missions are designed to deliver.
Smallholder farmers and their families are the majority of the population in Africa and provide most of the food consumed throughout the continent. However, targeted support to help enterprises maximize their productive capacity has been limited. According to a 2019 McKinsey & Company report, Africa could produce two to three times more cereals, grains, horticulture, and livestock given the right strategic investments, combined with improvements in policies and regional trade flows.
We are proud and honored to support this cohort of social enterprises creating models of success, sustainable food systems solutions, and pathways out of poverty for the farmers countless communities rely on. Read more about each enterprise below.
- AgroData: Promoting sustainable farming, upscaling smallholdings, and improving rural livelihoods in Africa.
- ATMANCorp Nigeria: Enhancing Nigerian food security by harnessing technology and renewable energy.
- Eastern Agricultural Development Company Ltd (EADC): Promoting commercialized production of nutrient rich foods in Uganda.
- Exotic EPZ LTD: Sourcing, producing, and supplying the finest quality products in the nuts and oils value chains, while empowering small-scale producers, particularly rural women farmers.
- Farmhut: A one stop agriculture shop aiding women smallholder farmers economically and socially.
- Flamingoo Foods: Enabling access to food for every home in Africa to make every life better.
- KadAfrica: Increasing knowledge, agricultural productivity, and income of smallholder farmers in East Africa.
- M-Shamba: Improving farmer productivity and income in Africa by leveraging the power of mobile technology.
- Mushili Beans: Agriprocessor of affordable, convenient, and nutritional food.
- Nampya Farmers Market: Providing safe, quality, and affordable food to Uganda’s urban population and reliable markets to farmers across the country.
- PricePally: Making good quality and safe food available for all.
- Releaf Inc: Empowering farmers in Africa through industrial food processing.
- REPARLE: Delivering renewable energy and agricultural value addition services to power sustainable economic development for rural farming communities in Africa.
- Rio Fish: Producing and sourcing fish through professional and environmentally sustainable fish farming, to contribute to food security and community development along the Lake Victoria shores, with specific attention to women’s empowerment and elimination of sex for fish trade.
- Seekewa: Connecting farmers to consumers around Africa through its participatory financing platform.
- Taimba : Optimizing the distribution, quality, and price of food in East Africa through a data-driven, innovative, and intelligent supply chain.
- TILAA LTD: Creating rural jobs, conserving the ecosystem, and reclaiming degraded lands through sustainable, integrated beekeeping and cashew plantations.
- Warc Africa: Getting subsistence farmers in Africa out of poverty by enabling farmers to access the best available machinery, agricultural practices, and technical advice.
Read more about the program in our press release here.
