Agro-industry Archives - Page 2 of 2

Kleine landbouwers omscholen tot agripreneurs dat is de missie van Gudie Leisure Farm (Oeganda).

Gudie Leisure Farm (GLF) is a city farm located in the suburbs of Kampala. As a social business, GLF wants to train smallholder farmers to become true agricultural entrepreneurs: agripreneurs. GLF developed the ‘Agripreneur Champions System’. This gives farmers practical training at the city farm or their own farms. As well as on areas such as poultry, pig farming, aqua culture and greenery, the highly practical training focuses on business-related subjects that guarantee the sustainable growth of the agro-companies.

Since it was founded in 2009, the social business has trained at least 63,720 farmers. In addition, the company carried out an assignment in the context of livestock management for the Belgian development agency Enabel. Mastercard Foundation also firmly believes in the potential of Gudie Leisure Farm and therefore decided to offer the agricultural school long-term financial support!

The ultimate dream of GLF is to become an open university for agriculture in Uganda. To reach that goal, the organisation first wants to focus on the construction of a fully functional training centre. GLF is adamant that they are recognised for the superior quality of their training and education courses. As such, Exchange and GLF are working together to set out a growth programme that will allow their ambitious goals to be fulfilled. As GLF is driven by passion and social engagement, Exchange is also convinced that the growth programme will not just lead to positive economic consequences for GLF itself, but will indirectly deliver improved socio-economic conditions for the smaller farmers in Uganda.

Delight (U) Ltd. is a private business that has been producing and selling fruit juices on the Ugandan market since 1996. Under the name ‘Cheers’, you’ll undoubtedly find their fresh juices in all local supermarkets. One to remember!

The administrative centre of the company is in Kampala, but the actual corporate activity takes place in the Nwoya district in North Uganda.

The presence of Delight in the region has a clear social and economic impact on the local society. Together with the Danish group aBi Trust, the juice producer is the driving force behind the establishment of the Nwoya Fruit Growers Cooperative Society. This is a cooperative that brings various groups of small farmers together in ‘grower groups’. Thanks to the establishment of the Growers Cooperative, the local farmers receive a fair price for their products. This is an important step forward in the fight against poverty. And it’s happening in an area that was ravaged by the Lord’s Resistance Army not long ago.

Thanks to its social work for the North Ugandan region, Delight has been included in the prestigious list of ‘Companies to Inspire Africa 2019’.

In 2019, Delight began a collaboration with UDC, the government authority for agricultural development, for the construction of a new factory in the Nwoya district. The new factory will be an important move for Delight. Every step in the production chain will be included in the company’s own operations. Delight will cultivate and grow its own fruit, partly via a partnership with the Nwoya Fruit Growers Cooperative Society. Delight will be able to process the fruit into juice itself and take care of the distribution and sale of the juices on its own. In doing so, both Delight and the government hope to become more independent from neighbouring companies that currently control a great part of the market.

To ensure sufficient supply of fruit to the factory, good coordination between Delight and the Nwoya Fruit Growers Cooperative is crucial. Exchange will act as a facilitator in this relationship. For example, we will set up a post-harvesting system in collaboration with the cooperative to get a correct estimate of the harvest. Furthermore, the Delight training center will be used to further train the cooperative and logistical issues will be dealt with. In this way, Delight can continue to live up to its reputation as a smart company. Where profit and social engagement go together.

Malawi is an agricultural country. Small farmers are behind the vast majority of the agricultural products. For small farmers with limited resources for packaging, storage and transport, it is not easy to bring their harvests to market. This results in small producers being stuck with the leftovers, all while the major supermarket chains, searching for reliable supplies of quality products, often import from South Africa. It’s vitally important that small farmers are integrated into the market.

Until now, Tradeline has primarily functioned as a consultancy organisation. The strategy for 2019–2023 was recently revised with a more commercial role and a mission for the company itself.

Tradeline and Exchange will collaborate on:

Setting up a distribution centre for sorting, packaging and marketing fruit and vegetables.
Facilitating the market access of the farmer organisationsthat perform the marketing of the harvests. That may be done by having access to more storage space for dry foods and acting as a broker, organising delayed sales.
Strengthening the micro-financing body Tradeline so that they are better aimed at the right target group of small producers.

The ultimate goal of Tradeline is to strengthen the local market. This will make them less dependent on the import of fruit and vegetables from South Africa. The capacity is there. It is important to invest in knowledge, transport and storage capacity.

The Exchange team includes experts in micro-financing and professionals from the fruit-and-vegetable-auction sector. There has been a collaboration set up with REO Veiling, Flemish pioneer in the setup of a cooperative auction structure, and BRS (Belgische Raiffeissenstichting), an expert in micro-financing. For the cherry on top, the Malawian agricultural minister visited REO Veiling in March 2018.

This very strong triumvirate of experts will raise Tradeline to a higher level.

Thanthwe Farms is an up-and-coming horticultural company in Lilongwe (Malawi). As Thanthwe Farms is close to the city, it is focusing more on the urban markets.

The horticultural company wants to make a name for itself as a producer of quality fruit and vegetables. Just like Tradeline, they want to strengthen the market in Malawi so that it will be less dependent on South African agricultural produce.

Thanthwe stands for sustainability and innovation. The company shares its knowledge of cultivation techniques and market access to the best extent possible with local farming communities via a community outreach programme.

Ngaba Chatata, the owner and manager, is a born entrepreneur. She is determined, and passionate about making a difference for rural communities in Malawi. Her efforts as a successful young entrepreneur have been acknowledged repeatedly, resulting in the 2017 Malawian Best SME award and Elite Farmer Award 2017.

An early feasibility study clearly exposed the strengths and opportunities for Thanthwe Farms. There was no lack of dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit! The reality forced us to look at the challenges and threats for sustainable growth.

Over the coming months, Exchange is drafting a realistic growth programme with Thanthwe. The growth of Thanthwe as a commercial player will be the most important goal of the programme. Growth will require the production, processing and marketing of fruit and vegetables to be improved.

Beyond this, attention must go to the involvement of small producers across the entire process. Thanthwe Farms will need to serve as an example.

Exchange and Thanthwe have entered into a long-term collaboration. The improvement of the production quality and the marketing policy are priorities. Exchange will also be responsible for bringing in the necessary expertise. Expert Jen Nold from CSA de Witte Beek is a dream partner for Thanthwe. In January 2019, she headed to Malawi with extensive—and necessary—cultivation technology and knowledge. She knows how to crack the whip over the management team and is also a pioneer in the Belgian CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) network. She knows all there is to know about short chains and alternative marketing. Which means Ngaba Chatata from Thanthwe Farms soon will too!

In central Uganda, the rural district of Luwero is blessed with fertile grounds. They have ensured that the agricultural or ‘agro’ industry is the most proficient economic activity in the region. However, the many small farmers active in the region rarely have the scale or the capacity to enter into fair-trade contracts. As such, they are often helpless victims of negotiation processes for both the purchase of raw materials and the sale of their own products and harvests.

Approximately thirty chicken farmers have joined forces. The Katikamu Poultry Co-operative is the result. This organisation consists of both, farmers who breed poultry to sell meat, as well as those who concentrate on egg production. The farmers act as one group, with their sales and purchases centralised. Together, they have become a major player on the market. And that has given them a stronger position at the negotiations table. The cooperative has used this, first of all, to ensure fair trade. As well as the scale benefits, the cooperative has invested strongly in the sharing of knowledge between members. An extra benefit strength of the Katikamu Poultry Co-operative is the diversity of its entrepreneurial members. There is a balanced share of males and females, young and old, that always welcome new members.

African Honey Bee (AHB) is a social enterprise that supports families in disadvantaged rural communities in starting up sustainable microbeekeeping businesses. On the global level, there is great demand for honey products, in particular products that meet quality and fair trade standards. The population living in the vast rural areas of South Africa is in great economic need. Setting up family honey business in these areas not only has an economic impact, but also has a positive impact on local nature through pollination and improved agricultural yields. In addition, AHB has a huge positive environmental impact by preventing the practice of 'honey hunting'. Honey hunters collect honey from wild beehives, using fire and smoke in an uncontrolled way to stun the bees and therefore causing frequent forest fires. AHB joined a sustainable partnership with a private company in the region, the Sappi plantation, which focuses on training people to keep bees in a responsible manner, providing an extra income and safeguarding the Sappi’s plantations from fire – a win-win situation for every stakeholder.

AHB is an independent initiative that gives to hundreds of local families the opportunity to market their honey through the AHB beekeeper trust cooperative. Over the past two years, AHB has trained 1200 beekeepers in Limpopo, Mpumalange and KwaZulu-Natal. 425 families have become active beekeepers, producing and selling honey. The effects of AHB training courses go beyond just developing new competences for the rural population. Promoting entrepreneurship gives self-confidence and empowers the communities involved.

Attracting social investors to achieve inclusive growth

After this collaboration, AHB continued to grow. At the end of 2016, the contacts between AHB and Exchange have been strengthened again. At that time, the two partners already started thinking about an long term approach. The needs of the company are diverse: in addition to the technical needs in the field of production technology, there are challenges in several other areas (strategic management, marketing, packaging, certification and distribution). The management of AHB set up a plan to triple the current number of beehives in-house over the coming years. The company is therefore looking for social investors to support further growth. To this end, Exchange have set up a collaboration with Benevolab Belgium, the CSR programme of BNP Paribas Fortis that gives bank employees the opportunity to contribute as volunteers to NGO projects in the South. Two experts from BNP Paribas Fortis Belgium conducted a financial analysis of the company in May 2017, and an investment plan was redacted on the basis of their analysis.

In Belgium, Exchange started discussions with
Kampani, a Belgian social investment fund, aimed at strengthening companies in the agrofood industry in the South. In the first half of 2018 Exchange plans to further strengthen this cooperation in order to arrive at a well-developed investment file that meets the questions of Kampani and / or any other social investors regarding the commercial operations of AHB. In addition, we are working together to raise cooperative funds around AHB Beekeeper through resources that are made available through national and international development initiatives. If funds are successfully found for this ambitious expansion, Exchange is ready to start a process together with AHB to tackle the next steps in the development of the company with a focus on marketing and in-house packaging.

To realize this growth program and to guarantee its sustainability, Exchange is working on setting up a structural North-South partnership. Attracting investors is essential for the company to grow further, and therefore a strong financial partnership has been created. Its core objectives are:
1) Supporting AHB in developing a realistic investment request
2) Making the business case of AHB in Flanders known to potential social investors, realizing a proper due diligence
3) Setting up a broader support program for the company over different business processes and thus achieving an intense guidance.
4) Leasing with Belgian organizations for funding social smallholder programmes.

Sector: Agro-industry

Social entrepreneurship and sustainable farming companies: a booming business in Uganda!

From small farmer to clever entrepreneur

A passionate entrepreneur behind the wheel

GLF as the agricultural training institution

Say ‘Cheers’, to social fruit juices!

Profit and social engagement go hand in hand

A big step towards self-sufficiency

Cooperative as a lifeline

Tradeline hits the road with local farmers

Market access for local farmers

A strong local market for Malawi

Flemish government/partners (REO and BRS)

Innovative and sustainable horticulture with a feminine touch

Dynamic, entrepreneurial spirit and realism

A female tandem-team

Stronger together for fair trade

A bigger player on the market

Support, expansion and sharing of knowledge

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African Honey Bee

Development of a structural partnership

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