Promoting Food Security in East Africa, One Grant at a Time

16 August 2010, USAID | East Africa
URL: http://eastafrica.usaid.gov/en/Article.1331.aspx

USAID/East Africa’s Market Linkages Initiative (MLI) signed its first two grants in July—important steps in a program designed to promote food security in East Africa. MLI promotes food security by helping to integrate smallholder staple food producers into national and regional markets across East Africa, in part by teaming its grantees with private sector partners.

MLI signed the first grant agreement with Chitsotsa Trading Company ceremony, on July 12, 2010, and held a signing ceremony on July 29, 2010, with its second grantee, Export Trading, in Nairobi.

Established in Kenya in 1967, Export Trading’s experience in trading and processing multiple commodities for relief and commercial purposes makes it a major player in African food security. The company has branches in 12 sub-Saharan countries.

MLI project director Anthony Ngosi commented, “This activity intends to move these farmers from self-subsistence to wealth creation, by linking them to reliable buyers.”

Export Trading’s Petra Larsson continued, “Farmers should be able to farm as a business and engage with formal market players such as traders, input suppliers and financial institutions.”

Export Trading will match the grant with funds of its own to establish integrated storage systems that will to open market access for approximately 3,000 smallholder farmers in Eastern Uganda. The company will upgrade and expand existing public storage facilities, improve storage management and operability, and train farmers in market practices and post-harvest handling.

Too many East African farmers sell their produce at a low price during harvest season because they lack storage. Export Trading will also establish public warehousing services, enhancing the company’s supply, and improved harvest off-take..  USAID’s support will ideally create a relationship where the farmers will have reliable markets while the grantee’s processing plant and integrated storage system will have guaranteed supply of raw materials needed in their operations.