Organic products producer fast-tracks market compliance through an upscaling program.
Agrinutrition Enterprise is a Kenyan-based enterprise within the natural products cluster that farms, processes, and markets Moringa and sunflower products. “We work with farmers throughout the farming journey to ensure that we can get the quality and quantity of the raw materials we need,” said Mary Mwangi, the Managing Director of Agrinutrition Enterprise. Mary adds that the company has enlisted approximately 1000 farmers of Moringa and sunflower from various parts of the country.
According to Mary, attempts to succeed in the natural products clusters were challenging due to the lack of prerequisite permits and compliance documents to trade within the organic standards. “It was challenging to ensure the market could acknowledge our products as orgonic and appreciate their value because we lacked the necessary trademarks. We also desired to trade in the international market, but it was impossible because we did not have the requisite documents," said Mary.
Research has estimated that around 90% of Kenyan small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operate within the informal sector (KAAA, 2017). These findings mean that these enterprises cannot access trade opportunities that require formal compliance to some set standards. This challenge underpins poor market access for these businesses, one of the main factors curtailing their growth. Like in the case of Agrinutrition Enterprise, which could not access the export market it wanted due to non-compliance, the SMEs cannot access particular market segments.
Agrinutrition Enterprise, through the representation of Mary, joined an upscaling program for manufacturing SMEs in natural products clusters in Kenya and Uganda. The programs involved technical support under five modules: Access to finance, market access, transparency and traceability, good manufacturing practices, and new product development.
“I enrolled through all the modules within the upscaling program, and one of the ways I have found value is under the good manufacturing practices module where I learned about the documents my business required to comply with regulatory standards and how to acquire them,” said Mary. Under the program, Mary and other entrepreneurs also attended the 2022 Anuga Foodtech Fair and got exposure to the export market quality standards and regulatory requirements.
“I saw the possibility of Agrinutrition Enterprise venturing into the export market and initiated the process of acquiring some the documents I needed”. According to Mary, the company has acquired the organic certificate and the ISO 1400 standard. “The certification gave us a headway into the export market, just like we had always desired, and right now, two of our food spice products are selling in the German market, thanks to the upscaling program for opening our eyes to what we needed to do.
Mary says that with the organic certification highlighted on the product labels, the market has begun to appreciate the products and acknowledge their value and as a result, she has seen increased sales. “More stakeholders have also begun to show interest in working with us, including farmers who want to be part of our organics products story,” Mary adds.
Agrinutrition Enterprise is one of the 40 enterprises from Kenya and Uganda enrolled in a program to upscale manufacturing SMEs in natural products. The program was implemented by Invest in Africa (IIA) in partnership with GIZ Business Scouts for Development.
