A food fortification professional, this man is working at a food processor in Kenya supported by TechnoServe training program SAFE
Entrepreneurship

Food Processing

Food processing businesses operate in the center of the value chain, playing an essential role in local economic growth. TechnoServe works to improve these businesses’ operations and safety practices so they can purchase more crops from farmers, create more jobs, and provide high-quality, nutritious food for consumers. Helping processors improve their food fortification practices is another key component of our work, as fortification of staple foods is one of the most effective, wide-scale ways of improving a population’s nutrition and health.

Help struggling farmers and small business owners lift themselves out of poverty.

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Brent Wibberley, TechnoServe Director, Food Processing

Brent WibberleyTechnoServe Director, Food Processing

food fortification

Our Work in Food Processing

TechnoServe helps food processors identify and analyze business problems and provides tailored guidance to improve operations, often through partnerships with leading global food companies. Much of this work links corporate volunteers from a consortium of food companies that comprise the nonprofit organization Partners in Food Solutions, enabling food processors in developing countries to access world-class industry expertise.

Featured Food Processing Projects

Who Benefits

Local businesses

TechnoServe has trained over 1,000 food processing companies in six African countries, giving customized technical assistance to 300 high-potential processors. This training helps the processors enhance the quality and quantity of their products, as well as improve the overall operations and profitability of their businesses. In particular, TechnoServe’s specialized support of the 300 processors led to improved investments of $14 million.

Local workers

Improved operations and profitability allows processors to hire additional workers and boost local employment rates. TechnoServe’s specialized work with 300 African processors, for instance, resulted in the creation of nearly 1,000 new jobs.

Smallholder farmers

Food processors provide a critical market for smallholder farmers, and when these businesses increase their sales and processing capacity, they are able to buy more crops from farmers. TechnoServe’s work with 300 African processors has helped improve market opportunities for approximately 1 million smallholder farmers.

Consumers

Millions of consumers benefit from safer, healthier, higher-quality food after processors improve their standards and operations. TechnoServe has also worked with processors that supply therapeutic and supplementary foods, which help improve nutrition for malnourished, elderly, and otherwise vulnerable members of the population.