Twiga Foods

The problem

Agriculture accounts for over a quarter of Kenya’s GDP (or around half if other related sectors are included), and over 75 per cent of the country’s population makes some part of their living from agriculture. However, the Kenyan agricultural sector can be inefficient and complex, and food waste is high due to inefficient handling practices. At the same time, small- and medium-sized fruit and vegetable vendors often lack access to a reliable supply of affordable and quality products.

The company

Twiga Foods runs a mobile-based B2B platform that supplies fresh fruits and vegetables sourced from farmers in rural Kenya to small- and mediumsized roadside vendors. The mobile-based cashless platform allows Twiga Foods to offer higher prices and a guaranteed market to farmers, and lower prices and a reliable supply to vendors. It also helps to reduce post-harvest losses and waste as it matches demand with supply. Consumers also benefit as they are able to buy fresher products at lower prices thanks to a more efficient supply chain.

Project description

Twiga Foods received a grant from the GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in April 2017 to build a mobile solution that enables vendors to place orders via feature phones and smartphones, and to launch a blockchain-enabled financial services platform.

Impact

As of January 2020 Twiga Foods platform has moved 400 tonnes of produce allowing the 8,900 farmers registered on the platform to boost their income by over $50 per month.