Africa

For women and girls in the developing world, COVID-19 is exacerbating existing inequities and creating new challenges. In Benin, women cashew farmers like Elisabeth Atchade must juggle many responsibilities, including earning money for the household while also taking on the majority of child care responsibilities. Learn how a TechnoServe program is helping women address these challenges and emerge from the crisis even stronger.

TechnoServe is helping farming families in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia restore their income, boost food security, and build resilience to future threats. Learn a few of the ways smallholder farmers have been impacted by COVID-19 and what they are doing to adapt.

Since 2019, TechnoServe and Nespresso have been helping smallholder coffee farmers like Byaleo Felicite improve incomes by registering with their washing stations and cooperatives as suppliers of certified organic coffee. This month, Nespresso is launching Kahawa ya Congo, an exciting new coffee in the Reviving Origins range, sourced from farmers in South Kivu.

TechnoServe and the Mastercard Foundation are partnering on a new program to support entrepreneurs in Kenya as they navigate the COVID-19 crisis and ultimately move toward economic recovery.

Mom and pop shops are the economic – and often social – backbone of Nairobi, especially in the city’s informal settlements. Store owners like Cosmas are learning simple business fixes that can help their stores, and the communities they serve, to thrive.

As a young girl, Thato Ditsele dreamed of owning her own fashion business. However, life as a young entrepreneur outside of Johannesburg was not easy, and she ran into challenges along the way. Eventually, her dream came true and she was able to start her own clothing line. Through TechnoServe’s Box Shop program, she gained practical knowledge about finance, marketing, and branding, which helped her increase sales by 50%.

In Nigeria, nearly half the tomato harvest is lost before ever reaching consumers. Promoting the domestic cottage processing sector has the potential to significantly decrease post-harvest loss while also improving farmer livelihoods and increasing food security for vulnerable communities.

For the past three years, TechnoServe has partnered with Citi Foundation to celebrate Global Community Day — an opportunity to give back to local communities through service. This year, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Citi is partnering with TechnoServe’s Smart Duka program to distribute care packages to children’s homes and senior homes in Nairobi, Kenya.

Robin Merl worked as a TechnoServe Fellow in Zambia in 2019. His work centered around strategies for decreasing malnutrition and stunting in the most affected areas of Zambia. Before joining TechnoServe, Robin worked with McKinsey & Company in Hamburg, Germany. Currently, he is working for the Freetown City Council and mayor’s office in Sierra Leone.

In sub-Saharan Africa, TechnoServe is helping food processors to fortify their foods and build nutritious, productive, and prosperous futures for their communities.