Incubating Agribusiness in Africa. the 2SCALE experience

7 November 2017. Utrecht. Incubating Agribusiness in Africa. 2SCALE will share five years of experience in agribusiness.

2SCALE is one of the largest incubators of inclusive agribusiness in Africa. It runs 50 public-private partnerships in high-potential product groups in 9 countries, involving over 500,000 farmers and 2,500 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The 2SCALE EVENT 2017, brought together entrepreneurs, producer organizations, finance institutions, business coaches and SMEs will all share how they succeed in establishing inclusive agribusiness that is socially-focused, and making a world of difference for the communities in which they operate.

Keynote speaker: Ruth Kinoti – founder and CEO of Shalem Investments – Kenya

Guest speakers representing 2SCALE partnerships in Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya and Nigeria:

• Ruth Kinoti, Shalem Investments – Kenya
• Samuel Ntim, Yedent – Ghana
• Florence Kinoti, Kremara Potato Growers Association – Kenya
• Tiburce Cotchu, Union Communale des Maraichers de Grand Popo – Benin
• Fatou Diarrassouba, Vegetables CIV – Ivory Coast
• Rutger Groot, East West Company – the Netherlands
• Paul Stanger, Heineken – the Netherlands
• Nina Dessouassi, Promofruits pineapple platform – Benin
• Umran Kaggwa, Agribusiness Management Associates – Uganda

Break-out Sessions

1. Leaving No One Behind: Focus on Women and Youth – Arno Maatman and Addis Teshome (IFDC) To work on a truly inclusive agribusiness sector, extra efforts will need to be made by programs like 2SCALE to ensure that women and youth are part of the equation too. This session shared detailed examples on how w2Scale worked to create more inclusive environments for those often overlooked in more traditional entrepreneurship contexts
2. Smallholder Farmer Organisation, Learning & Innovation – Gieljan Beijen (ICRA) 2SCALE’s interactive learning approach on market driven farmer organisation, learning and innovation. Through a concrete case, the cassava partnership in Nigeria, key challenges faced and solutions found by building relationships in the value chain were discussed.
3. Marketing & Distribution to the BoP – Nick van der Velde (BoPInc). This session gave examples from how 2SCALE worked with local business champions on reaching BoP consumers with nutritious food products. Strategy tools used, and together were shared and a real life case from 2SCALE to make the use of these strategy tools practically applicable
4. Partnership Governance – Raphael Vogelsperger (IFDC). This session highlighted good practices and lessons learned on 2SCALE’s experience with setting up inclusive partnership governance arrangements. Following this, a group discussion collected insights from participants on their challenges and good practices related to partnership governance

Related blogpost
The Importance of Functional Capacity Strengthening in Agribusiness Partnerships

2SCALE Thematic Papers. Not By Technology and Money Alone, The Importance of Functional Capacity Strengthening in Agribusiness Partnerships - Insights from the 2SCALE project.
Published on 10 August 2017 in “Science”, language — English. 39 pages.

2SCALE is implemented by a consortium of partners comprised of IFDC, ICRA, and BOPinc. For more information, visit ifdc.org/2scale.

This collection of case studies (PDF) by ICRAand gives insight into the 2SCALE project, through 15 stories in four countries (Benin, Ghana, Mali and Nigeria). The main themes that emerge are:

how building relationships and strengthening functional capacities (or soft skills) are necessary pre-requisites to technical improvements;
the importance of organisations becoming more empowered; how to sustain support services beyond the project life;
and a focus on gender and youth issues.