Helping African Food Businesses Recover from the COVID-19 Pandemic
This series of business profiles and case studies explores how COVID-19 impacted food processors and how financial and technical assistance helped them recover.
Small and medium-sized enterprises are vital to local food systems in Africa: they provide nutritious foods for local consumers and offer a stable, profitable market to smallholder farmers. However, the COVID-19 pandemic threatened the operations and survival of these essential businesses. In response to this crisis, Visa Foundation provided resiliency grants to eight African food processors, which also received technical assistance from TechnoServe, Partners in Food Solutions, and the U.S. African Development Foundation. This support helped the businesses increase their sales by 70%, supporting stable markets for 1,500 farmers and creating new employment opportunities for nearly 100 workers.
In the eight profiles below, you can learn more about the effects of the pandemic oand the impact of the financial and technical assistance on each business:
- A.A. Nafaka Store Supply Limited (Tanzania)
- Beri Food Complex (Ethiopia)
- Delish & Nutri Ltd. (Kenya)
- Legacy Manufacturers Limited (Zambia)
- Melkam Endale Dairy Farm and Milk Processing (Ethiopia)
- Omega Foods Zambia Limited (Zambia)
- Profate Investments Limited (Tanzania)
- Theday Agro Industry PLC. (Ethiopia)
In addition, with support from Visa Foundation, TechnoServe worked with two of the firms to develop inclusive business plans that would enable the processors to grow and become more profitable while providing increased opportunities to smallholder farmers. More information can be found in the following case studies:
- A.A. Nafaka Store Supply Limited (Tanzania)
- Delish & Nutri Ltd. (Kenya)
