It’s not business as usual…

Image: Kenyan fish farmer, Cassim,was able to set up an aquashop thanks to a Farm Africa project. He serves 150-200 active farmers who he is in touch with regularly, but has around 600 customers in total. 

By Nadia Martinez, Farm Africa’s Country Director for Kenya and South Sudan 

The development community has descended in Rwanda for the Cracking the Nut Conference, a global gathering of agricultural development practitioners, and the first time it is being held in Africa. This year’s theme, Improving Rural Livelihoods and Food Security, is all about business – how small farms can operate as profitable businesses, why the private sector should partner with smallholders to benefit their business, and what donors can do to promote rural business.

The development conversation is definitely changing, and so are the players. Speakers and participants include commercial companies like Cargill and Starbucks, exporters like VegPro, input suppliers like Amiran and global banks like KCB. Not surprisingly, the “solutions” to Africa’s development challenges – those “nuts” that need cracking – promote win-win partnerships between the public sector, the development community and private businesses.

In Kenya, Farm Africa is testing and applying various models, including private sector approaches, to improve farmers’ lives. In Kitale, for example, youth groups are learning to grow high value vegetables for export – a challenging enterprise but one that can generate higher incomes and a steady and long-term buyer, ensuring sustainability beyond our intervention.

In Rwanda, I’m sharing our successes and experiences with others, and learning from colleagues and partners from Africa and around the world. From the first day’s discussions, it is clear that Farm Africa’s focus on smallholder commercialization and private sector engagement is keeping us at the forefront of agricultural development in East Africa.