In The Spotlight with Nourishing Africa

As part of our Matoyana Media “In the Spotlight” Series we’re showcasing African businesses who have social transformation at the heart of their businesses. We’re honoured to feature Nourishing Africa as a business whose online platform has a range of tools and resources geared towards showcasing the talent and innovations of the agricultural and food entrepreneurs on the African Continent.

Nourishingafrica.com is a virtual home for entrepreneurs transforming the agriculture and food landscape!  Their mission is to: “Attract, empower, equip, connect and celebrate over 1 Million dynamic and innovative young entrepreneurs who will drive the profitable and sustainable growth of the African agriculture and food landscapes.” The hub serves as a platform for these entrepreneurs to accelerate their work, connect with each other, and celebrate their successes on the continent. The portal includes information about funding, events, African food and chefs, career opportunities, and other resources to develop one’s career in the agri/food industry.

Africa’s agribusiness sector should be the driver of economic growth, yet African agrifood entrepreneurs face numerous challenges which prevent their businesses from scaling. Many agrifood entrepreneurs struggle for survival in very difficult and often hostile environments. They face challenges developing and implementing demand-driven and sustainable business models, finding and retaining talent, raising appropriate financing, building strong brands, and shaping their ecosystems. As the African and global population continues to grow rapidly, these entrepreneurs require support, knowledge, financing and tools to scale their businesses, and leverage the available technology and innovation to leapfrog. These entrepreneurs must effectively position and prepare themselves to maximize the opportunities in this sector, projected to exceed $1 Trillion by 2030.

Nourishing Africa is uniquely positioned to help these entrepreneurs, from farm to folk, scale their businesses. They are a one-stop hub for entrepreneurs in the agriculture and food landscapes leveraging innovative channels to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses. The hub provides critical links to funding, data, learning resources, events, technology, talents, inputs and other resources that entrepreneurs need to scale their businesses; the Membership Portal provides an online community for entrepreneurs where they can access tailored opportunities, connect with each other and other stakeholders, and share experiences toward facilitating peer learning and build partnerships.

In addition, Nourishing Africa facilitates strategic convening and training for agrifood entrepreneurs across Africa, partnering with local organizations to deliver relevant content in the entrepreneurs’ communities and areas of focus. Given the current Covid-19 pandemic, they have taken these convenings online and continue to host webinars and virtual learning experiences such as their “Ask An Expert” segment which allows entrepreneurs to ask specific questions to leading experts tailored to support their work and businesses.

At Nourishing Africa the work is grounded in their vision of a flourishing, sustainable and just food ecosystem, which leverages agtech and digital innovations, driven by Africa’s vibrant entrepreneurs to ensure that the Continent nourishes itself and becomes a net exporter of food.

If anything, this period has solidified the conviction in the need for Nourishing Africa and galvanized them to work harder and smarter. The Covid-19 pandemic and movement restrictions and lockdowns have not adversely affected them in the way it has a lot of other organizations, given that they are an online platform, and have been able to continue working while doing so remotely.

Nourishing Africa’s inspiration and creativity comes directly from their constant engagement with agriculture and food entrepreneurs in Africa. Through listening to experiences, challenges, and successes, they have been able to create segments and activities on the hub that are directly aimed at the needs of their African network, and see entrepreneurs survive and thrive during this period is enough motivation to keep them going.

As a team, they have daily check-ins during the week to ensure that each member is safe and doing ok, these briefings also serve as an updating session for each member of the team to discuss their tasks and goals as it relates to the Hub. The check-ins have been instrumental in ensuring that they remain focussed and committed to their cause – as well as knowing that each member of the team is safe and keeping sane.

If you are in the agriculture or food landscape, from farm to folk, and want to be part of the transformation, visit www.nourishingafrica.com and upload your agribusiness. The “Entrepreneurs” page is dedicated to showcasing entrepreneurs across Africa to the world.

Some of the benefits of becoming a Nourishing Africa Member include:

• Access and referrals to funders to scale your agriculture and food business
• Marketplace to engage with potential customers, partners and suppliers
• Discounts on key agricultural inputs, training programs, conferences and services.
• Exclusive invitations to online and in-person training programs and access to members-only data and resources to build your skills
• Nominations for local and global speaking opportunities, media appearances, prizes and awards
• Free advertising and opportunities to showcase your business.

Even if you are not currently in the sector, Nourishing Africa has a range of tools and resources geared towards showcasing the talent, innovations and indigenous foods our Continent has to offer. It is packed with learning experiences that should not be missed!  If you have further questions, please contact info@nourishingafrica.com and they will be happy to help.