Looking to source from African Farmers
Opportunities and Strategies to Increase Sourcing in Africa
“Sourcing in Africa” is a stakeholder platform that identifies opportunities and implements strategies to increase sourcing from African smallholder farmers. Stakeholders encompass the entire eco-system that facilitates agriculture value chains ranging from anchor-buyers, farmers, SMEs, financial institutions, service providers, input companies and technical expert NGOs. The platform focus on strengthening supply chains that link farmers, aggregators and anchor buyersThe platform convenes in the Dealroom to benefit from matchmaking opportunities to align investments, forge partnerships and joint interventions that increase sustainable sourcing in Africa.
The Challange
Increasing the volume of produce sourced from African smallholder farmers and expanding food processing capacity on the African continent are key pillars of African agricultural transformation. Currently an estimated 60% of key commodities consumed in Africa are sourced from outside of the continent.Successfully sourcing from smallholder farmers means overcoming challenges which include undeveloped and fragmented value chains, technical capacity of farmers and processors, lack of adequate finance, and lack of public policy and infrastructure to support the sustainable supply of their requirements. Even in cases where anchor buyers, small traders and processors are able to overcome some of these challenges, they often lack access to financing and capital and management capabilities to grow their business sustainably.
What we do
The platform engages in the following year round activities:
Facilitate matchmaking, partnerships and alliance building between value chain actors; anchor-buyers (brands, retailers, regional and domestic companies), SMEs, commercial service providers, farmers and technical experts,NGOs to strengthen value chain linkages and scale local sourcing models.
Raise awareness on interventions, investments and policy revisions to guide the decision making, policy design and programs of governments and development partners.
Share knowledge on lessons learned and new opportunities
Show case success and solutions at the AGRF and other key events annually
- Provide opportunities for financial institutions to present financial service models that support anchor-buyers, SMEs and farmers the improve value chain connections
- Provide opportunities for development partners and governments to present strategies and programs to increase local sourcing
- Showcase successful business models, programs and other interventions on successful private sector initiatives
How to engage
If you want to participate in the sourcing for Africa platform, please contact Valentine Miheso on vmiheso@agra.org or email DRLocalSourcing@agra.org.
Please note that all participants in the Dealroom are required to register for the AGRF summit.