Technology Eye
In Kenya, an app developed by IBM is helping small-scale vendors and farmers get on better financial footing. Can the app possibly bring reliability and profitability to the country’s biggest employment sector and beyond?
Images courtesy of Twiga Foods
Clad in a New York Yankees baseball cap and a colorful short-sleeved shirt, Kevin Nakuru wakes up every day to dash out to the streets like thousands of other similar fruit vendors in Nairobi. Before there’s even a glint of sunlight in Kenya, the 20-year-old is already preparing his bananas, melons and oranges to sell to passers-by. In Africa, where 96 percent of food is sold via such “informal retailers”, Nakuru sees his small four-year-old business as an opportunity with room to grow. "I was able to buy a scooter because of my work,” he says.
He’s also had help in the form of Twiga Foods, a Kenya-based food supply platform that was also established in 2014. Seeing a need to improve Kenya’s agricultural market and wishing to address issues such as increasing food prices, safety and sustainability, Twiga Foods wanted to connect the desires of the country’s farmers with those who are selling their produce. In just four years, the company has become the largest distributor of several food staples in Kenya. To cite just one example, they have sold over 55 million bananas to date and deliver over 4,000 food orders per week.
Images courtesy of Twiga Foods
“Twiga is a platform that connects urban retailers with rural farmers in Kenya.”Grant Brooke, the CEO and co-founder of Twiga Foods
“In the past, retailers like Kevin had to get up at five in the morning to walk to markets in the middle of Nairobi, and then get a pushcart or shuttle to transport it back to their store. Instead, we allow them to order on our platform, which then gets delivered directly to their outlet.
This leads to better quality produce at lower prices,” says Grant Brooke, the CEO and co-founder of Twiga Foods.
In turn, that massive vendor collective is also helping farmers because there is now a reliable market chain, and better prices as well. To date, Twiga has just gone through its fourth round of funding, with well over US$10 million dollars raised. And the entire process - from Kevin's daily need for fruit, to delivery and payment - all begins with an app on Kevin's phone. That saves him a trip to the market, allows him to receive small business loans, and enables Twiga Foods to deliver fresh produce directly to him. Farmers, in turn, receive payment within 24 hours and get receipts. A paper trail is developed, making it easier for everyone to develop a credit rating.
