East Africa

Meet the owner of a business that supplies affordable, ready-to-eat frozen foods for a growing number of city dwellers in Kenya.

In the developing world, small businesses face a number of obstacles that their counterparts in developed countries do not.

Smallholder farmers in the developing world face considerable challenges that keep many of them locked in poverty. Mobile technologies have the potential to transform the rural economy facing impoverished small farmers.

Sam Koole, chairman of the Kainja Mango Farmers Association, remembers a time only a few years ago when the fruit from the Sena, a variety of mango native to eastern Uganda, was left to rot on the ground. Since launching Project Nurture in 2010, local farmers are no longer taking the Sena for granted.

Joska Aweko’s life has been indelibly affected by conflict in northern Uganda. But peace has returned in recent years, and with it, the opportunity to rebuild.

An estimated 25% of world food crops, including maize, peanuts and cassava, are affected by aflatoxin contamination. These crops constitute the staple foods for the majority of African countries.

For farmers like Samuel Baale, chairman of Bulongo Farmer Business Group in eastern Uganda, cotton is vital to life. The area’s main cash crop, cotton helps pay for homes, provide food and send children to school. And the market for Samuel’s cotton comes from one major buyer: Mutuma Commercial Agencies…

Even in the poorest of countries, business opportunities exist. People have demand for goods and services, and they have the potential to supply them. All too often, though, markets in these countries fail.

In the winter of 2012, I joined TechnoServe directly from a management consulting position in San Francisco. Four months and more than 100 stakeholder interviews later, what was once a side note on a scope of work now has great impact on how TechnoServe looks at dairy interventions.

Jean-Pierre attends a STRYDE session with his classmates in Rwanda’s Ruhango district. Across East Africa, TechnoServe and The MasterCard Foundation are working to help young people like Jean-Pierre transition to economic independence in Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda.