Closing the financial gap through matchmaking at BioFach

2019-04-12T14:31:56+00:00March 8th, 2018|Tags: , , , , |

Alterfin, Triodos and Rabo Rural Fund from Rabobank joined the financial matchmaking sessions that ProFound organises annually at BioFach. In total we made 13 matches for 9 exhibitors of our Organic Africa Pavilion.  With this service, we help to ensure that exhibitors gain access to financial solutions from social lenders and micro-financing organisations.  “The preparation of the matchmaking by ProFound was highly appreciated. We met interested and well-matched producers that we would hope to mature into opportunities for the future. The facilitation provided us with a great opportunity to meet with multiple companies that we otherwise may not have met. The meetings [Read more]

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ProFound launches the Healthy Green Choice project in Kenya

2018-06-25T12:00:23+00:00December 19th, 2017|

Consumer demand for safe fruits and vegetables in Kenya is continuously growing. However, domestic suppliers cannot keep up with this demand. This is why Healthy Green Choice (HGC) aims to develop a new market and new channels for safe food in Kenya, promoting responsible products and farmers. We have food safety and biodiversity at our core, offering economic incentives for producers to go the extra mile. Next to compliance with food safety requirements (such as HACCP, GACP and GlobalGAP), Healthy Green Choice will look into innovations across the value chain such as soil testing, traceability and rural financing. Partners onboard [Read more]

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ProFound commits to demand driven models to improve food safety in Kenya

2017-09-05T16:02:56+00:00September 5th, 2017|Tags: , , , , , |

Consumer demand for safe fruits and vegetables in Kenya is continuously growing. However, supplies of safe food for the domestic market fall way short of this demand. Smallholder producers in Kenya account for around 75% of the total agricultural production, including fresh fruits and vegetables. The vast majority of these smallholder producers are not producing in compliance with minimum food safety requirements, due to capacity gaps and disincentives to comply. The majority of supply is still highly informal and non-transparent, lacking traceability and food safety requirements. Finding opportunities to market safe food in Kenya In July, ProFound’s director Bert-Jan Ottens [Read more]

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Eleven Rural Finance Matchmaking Sessions for African entrepreneurs at BioFach 2017

2018-02-22T10:31:03+00:00February 28th, 2017|Tags: , , , |

African suppliers often cannot access the necessary financial services they need; their financial position makes them too large to be targeted by development aid interventions, but too small to qualify for loans from many private banks. This space is known as the ‘missing middle.’ At the same time, social lenders in Europe and North America cannot identify a sufficient number of viable projects to fund and face high risks catering to the needs of the missing middle. ProFound contributes towards bridging this financial gap through organising matchmaking sessions between suppliers and social lenders. “ProFound provides full value chain solutions from [Read more]

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Introducing Myanmar to Europe

2016-11-01T16:28:03+00:00February 5th, 2016|Tags: , , , |

Myanmar is an important producer of pulses, beans and oilseeds. It is a market leader for sesame seed and one of the biggest players for (in particular black) mung beans. The country has a strong potential to become a significant source for Dutch and European buyers. Research by ProFound, done for CBI/RVO, shows that Dutch importers are quite interested to start working in Myanmar. However, there are strong concerns in terms of quality, in particular concerning food safety and traceability. Buyers are also concerned about CSR compliance. ProFound’s director Bert-Jan Ottens visited Myanmar in January 2016, to determine key bottlenecks [Read more]

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Launch of ASPIRE programme in Ethiopia

2016-11-01T16:28:14+00:00April 11th, 2013|Tags: , , |

On March 28, the programme to develop Ethiopia’s beekeeping sector was launched officially. ProFound was not only in Ethiopia to witness the launch and discuss programme management with its partners, but also to deliver first results. A round table discussion initiated a Quality Assurance Scheme covering the entire value chain. Companies, government representatives, sector organisations, research institutes and consultants brainstormed on the Quality Assurance Scheme to prepare a list of actions, which will be followed up by the newly established Quality Assurance taskforce. ProFound also provided a three-day workshop to introduce representatives of diverse companies and sector organisations to market [Read more]

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