Farming enterprise expands to value addition through Invest in Africa’s SME upscaling program

Farmshare Kenya Limited is a Kenyan-based enterprise that works with small-holder farmers to farm, market, and distribute herbs and vegetables. Despite their good intentions, the company faced the challenge of post-harvest losses due to inconsistent market demand. The raw agricultural products meant an overreliance on fresh produce markets, which were unreliable and resulted in significant losses

In a bid to address these challenges, Eugene Ndwiga, the managing director of Farmshare Kenya Limited, joined Invest in Africa’s SME upscaling program. The program aimed to scale up manufacturing SMEs in natural products clusters in Kenya and Uganda. The program involved capacity building and technical support within five modules: good manufacturing practices, new product development, transparency and traceability, access to finance, and market access.

Under the program, Eugene learned skills in good manufacturing practices and new product development. He also attended business tours to other enterprises doing natural product processing. This engagement enabled him to understand the scope of value addition and decide how to implement it in his business.

“We started drying and processing herbs into powder,” he said. The new product from the value addition enabled Farmshare Kenya Limited to expand its market and boost its revenue and profit margins.

In addition to the new products, Eugene learned about hazard analysis and prevention through the ‘good manufacturing practices module.’ The company redesigned the outline of its production space to minimize contamination during production, which ensured that it could process quality products. “As a result, we are getting many inquiries from our customers,” said Eugene.

The outcomes of participating in Invest in Africa’s SME upscaling program were significant for Farmshare Kenya Limited. The company minimized reliance on fresh produce markets, expanded its market, and boosted its revenue and profit margins through value addition. The company also learned about hazard analysis and prevention and improved the production processes, including enhancing the production space to minimize contamination. According to Eugene, this improved process and product quality has led to more customer inquiries and repeat business.