The coronavirus pandemic brings more than a healthcare crisis to Africa, it brings disruptions to the food supply chain that will likely cause widespread hunger and starvation.
The food system is already far from ideal, with (at least) 40% of that food never being eaten due to post-harvest losses (Rockefeller Foundation studies).
Adding to these issues are the friction of closed borders, lockdowns, and lost revenues from the best paying customers: hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, and safaris.
Pre-pandemic, there was far too much friction in the early-stage financial markets to fund the food/ag supply chain. Now these food companies are essential services and the only chance to prevent widespread hunger.
A solution for all these issues is Africa Eats, a holding company with a diverse set of African food/ag companies supporting hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers, feeding millions of Africans.
An agile holding company that can efficiently put capital to work to keep the food supply running.
Africa Eats does not try solving this problem from scratch, but instead begins with 27 fledglings (graduates) of Fledge, the global network of conscious company accelerators. 27 young, for-profit, growing companies chosen from thousands as most likely to succeed, with impact embedded in their product or service, and who have all received two months of intense training, capital, and follow-on support. 27 companies which in 2019 earned over $7 million in aggregate revenues and which worked directly with over 100,000 smallholder farmers.
New York Times: The Other Way Covid Will Kill: Hunger
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