DFC backs Kenya's Twiga Foods with $5m debt deal
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) announced the first disbursement of a $5 million loan to Twiga Foods to strengthen food security in Kenya by increasing farmers’ access to markets and improving the agricultural supply chain with cold storage.
Since 2014, Twiga has worked to streamline Kenya’s fragmented, inefficient food distribution system. The company purchases fresh produce from remote, hard-to-reach farms across the country. It then packages, stores, and distributes it to urban produce vendors, who place orders through Twiga’s digital sales platform.
“Twiga is advancing an innovative solution to create economic opportunity – particularly for women – while ensuring dependable and affordable sources of food across Kenya,” said DFC managing director of global women’s issues, Charity Wallace. “DFC is proud to support this project, which will help strengthen food security and unlock untapped economic potential across Kenya.”
By reducing inefficiencies throughout the agricultural supply chain, Twiga helps smallholder farmers move their products to market and earn more consistent, reliable sales. The company’s convenient delivery system also improves livelihoods for urban produce vendors by saving time, reducing costs, and improving product quality. Further, Twiga’s more efficient distribution system strengthens food security by reducing food waste.
To date, this system has connected and increased incomes for over 17,000 farmers and more than 8,000 produce vendors. DFC’s loan will enable Twiga to purchase additional transportation and cold storage equipment in order to expand and move more produce to market.
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