Transforming agrifood systems: when women succeed, we’re all in business

The first edition of an accelerator programme for women-led SMEs aims to empower female entrepreneurs to use agrifood systems to reduce poverty and achieve Zero Hunger 

While small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the food and agriculture sectors play an outsized role in guaranteeing food security, particularly for the poorest and most vulnerable consumers, they are more likely to encounter difficulties in accessing finance to grow and run their businesses. This is especially true for women-owned businesses, which face greater difficulties in accessing credit and financial liquidity, and are more vulnerable to market shocks and disruptions. 

On June 8, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Agri-food Network (IAFN) celebrated the achievements of 45 women agrifood entrepreneurs from sub-Saharan Africa and recognized their successful completion of the inaugural edition of the Accelerator Mentorship Programme for Women-led Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The programme, a joint initiative of FAO and IAFN, aimed to empower women agrifood entrepreneurs by providing them with the knowledge and tools needed to grow their businesses and adapt to an ever-changing marketplace. Members of the first cohort represented a variety of areas of work along the agrifood value chain, from production, processing, marketing and distribution to digital solutions for agriculture and logistics, transport and supply chain services. 

Each participant in the programme was paired with a mentor – a leader in a field which corresponded to the participant’s area of interest and business activity – from whom they received one-on-one coaching over a six-month period. These meetings were complemented by a series of online courses, tailor-made trainings, and networking and peer-learning opportunities where all participants were able to connect with one another. 

Women’s empowerment not only benefits women – it is also key to the economic and social outcomes of the communities they belong to. According to the 2023 report on the Status of Women in Agrifood Systems, if half of small-scale producers benefited from development interventions that focused on empowering women, it would significantly raise the incomes of an additional 58 million people and increase the resilience of an additional 235 million people. By the same token, IAFN calculates that by investing in 45 women entrepreneurs, the accelerator programme reached around a half a million people through the work that the participants’ companies do. 

Both participants and mentors took the stage during the closing ceremony to share how they had used what they had learned during the programme to benefit more than just their own businesses, highlighting how investing in women is a gain for the entire community. 

Célia Chabi, the founder and CEO of KIEL BIEN-ÊTRE, a Beninese company which creates environmentally-friendly products from baobab leaves, explained how she uses each stage of the supply chain to improve the lives of the women with whom she works. Thanks to the coursework on nutrition which she completed during the programme, she felt she was more able to support rural women in accessing the right types of food they needed for optimal nutrition. 

Emmastella Gakuo, the Director of Operations at Savanna Circuit Technologies in Kenya, detailed how the programme had helped her to improve pricing models for her company’s mobile solar coolers and dehydrators, which allow smallholder farmers to reduce their post-harvest losses while cutting carbon emissions. She hoped that by offering access to production equipment without heavy up-front investment, she could help transform agriculture into a lucrative employment option for those in her area. 

One of the most inspiring stories came from Oluyemisi Iranloye, the founder and managing director of Psaltry International Limited (PIL) in Nigeria. She credited the mentorship she received with helping her to follow the necessary steps to set up a foundation which will support rural students who are the children of farmers. Her company, which grew from marketing cassava produce to producing food-grade starch and flour, used an inclusive business model to train subsistence farmers in cassava production and create a supply chain involving more than 10,000 farm families. Through her foundation, she will also be able to invest in future generations by supporting rural students – particularly girls - who are interested in continuing their education, especially in the areas of science and agriculture.