Kenyan women, youth in agriculture tipped of Sh10m funding

Kenyan youth and women-led agribusinesses have been awarded an opportunity to access Sh10 million as an investment for their companies through the FoodTech Africa accelerator.

The accelerator is inviting post revenue level agribusinesses in Kenya to apply for the program to meet the growing demand and challenge of food security in the country.

The investment comes at a time when a recent report by the Kenya Food Security 2019 Steering Group revealed that, approximately 1.3 million people in Kenya are currently facing a crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity, which has been further exacerbated by Covid-19.

“We are grateful to GIZ Make-IT in Africa for appointing this project to Pangea and Strathmore University to drive food security in Africa through the FoodTech Africa program. We believe Kenya and East Africa are at a critical time and that innovation and young entrepreneurs have a big role to play in creating resilient and local food systems,” said Jonas Tesfu, CEO and Co-Founder of Pangea Accelerator.

Additionally, the accelerator’s recent webinar, where entrepreneurs in agriculture had one-on-one interactions with agri-focused investors, made it apparent that there is significant interest and support in the sector particularly for agri-based enterprises looking to expand.

The webinar event also presented a unique opportunity for Agri based enterprises to interrogate and find out investor due diligence processes in the country as well as financing options for their businesses.

Moderating the event, Linda Kwamboka, Entrepreneur in Residence and Manager @iBizAfrica pointed out that the program is looking to identify and support the innovations toward possible investment from a pool of diaspora and international investors and encouraged those solving food challenges in the country to apply to join the program ahead of its deadline on August 21.

Selected businesses who will be accepted into the program are looking at a 10-week intensive training on business coaching and mentorship, B2B sales opportunities as well as the opportunity to interact with investors with leading high potential companies getting an investment of up to Sh10 million.

Tracy Weru, Program Coordinator for GIZ Make-IT in Africa stated, “We are positive that this program will provide access to skills, market, and finance to the selected Agtech start-ups.”