“When talking about malnutrition [in Africa], it is estimated that [malnutrition] is the underlying cause of 35% to 40% children’s deaths” – The World Health Organization Malnutrition is not just a lack of calories, it is caused by a lack of protein and essential amino acids, both most easily supplied with meat. The problem isn’t a lack of nutritional knowledge, it is a lack of affordable...
Tanzania spends over $300 million USD importing 22 million liters of milk each year, despite the country having the 2nd most amount of cattle in Africa. Rogathe Dairy Farm Products processes and distributes 3,500 liters of raw milk daily (up from 350 liters thanks to the investment from the Fledge accelerator), collected directly from smallholder dairy farmers, fortified with vitamins and...
In Kenya, approximately 82% of the population cooks with biomass (wood and charcoal). Kencoco makes and sells charcoal briquettes from recycled agricultural coconut waste (coconut shells, husks) and charcoal fines left over from destructive charcoal trade. The charcoal briquettes are a viable low-cost alternative to environmentally damaging fuels such as firewood, kerosene and wood charcoal...
Uganda is an agricultural economy, 89% of the citizens are smallholder farmers creating 69% of the GDP. Smallholder farmers spend a considerable share of their income on inputs, plus quite a lot of additional debt. Limited capital and poor access to agricultural inputs clearly constrains farmer productivity Limited capital leave farmers’ income and livelihood at risk from drought, floods...
Nigeria needs 60 million metric tons of chickens per year but only 30 percent are produced in Nigeria, despite over 23 million smallholder Nigerian farmers. These farmers are not producing due to three factors: lack of capital, lack of knowledge, and lack of access to markets. Birdpreneur solves all these issues, funding farmers through crowdfunding, teaching farmers best practices, and...
Post harvest food losses and waste is a major problem in the food and agriculture industry in sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that every year almost 50% of fruits and vegetables, 40% of roots and 20% of cereals are lost. This especially affects smallholder farmers and the food industry in general. It results in seasonal shortages and price hike African agriculture has long been a symbol of...
Over 60% of Zambia’s 17m+ population live in rural areas and over 90% of these people are smallholder farmers. Most Zambian farmers engage in livestock farming especially goats but lack access to an organized market to turn those goats into income. Zamgoat empowers smallholder farmers, by creating a sustainable market opportunity for goats, buying goats from farmers, butchering and...
The demand for livestock and poultry products is growing faster than the production in African countries. Local meat production covers part of the demand, while the rest is met by imports. The major constraints for production are inadequate feeds in terms of quality and quantity, diseases, poor genetics, and lack of commercial orientation. To feed the growing African middle class, the...
“Roughly one-third of the maize produced in the world for human consumption every year, approximately 1.3 billion tones are wasted. These losses are particularly unfortunate in Africa where 220 million people are estimated to be undernourished”. – United Nations Every smallholder farmer knows the success of his crop depends on the quality of inputs, from the best seeds to proper irrigation and...
In Malawi, of the 200 tons of honey demanded yearly only 60-90 tons is supplied domestically, creating a deficit of 110 ton, $1 million USD trade deficit. Meanwhile Malawi is an agricultural country with a potential to not only meet its domestic demand but at the same time to export $10+ million annually to neighboring countries and into the global honey market. Farmers are not utilizing this...