Farmers./Photo ;courtesy
Thousands of farmers and rural households in Kenya and Uganda are set to benefit from new investments aimed at improving food systems, reducing post-harvest losses, and creating more stable incomes for small producers.
The support comes through the Food Systems Innovation Finance Facility, launched by Bayer Foundation and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), which has announced its first investments in two African enterprises working directly with smallholder farmers.
Bayer Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Bayer, will provide the catalytic funding to help reduce risk in early-stage investments, while UNCDF will manage and structure the facility, drawing on its development finance role in emerging and least developed economies.
In Uganda, Omia Agribusiness Development Group Limited will receive a $500,000 local currency loan to expand services for farmers in the country’s north, an area affected by past conflict, refugee inflows, weak infrastructure, and growing climate pressure.
Omia already works with more than 90,000 smallholder farmers. The new financing is expected to help the business reach another 75,000 farmers, including 30,000 women and 20,000 refugees.
“This investment enables us to significantly expand our reach while strengthening farmer incomes, resilience, and food security,” said Iganachi Razaki Omia, Chief Executive Officer of Omia Agribusiness.
For many farming families, that could mean better access to farm inputs, technical advice, and stronger links to markets where produce can be sold more reliably.
In Kenya, SokoFresh will receive a $500,000 four-year local currency loan to expand solar-powered cold storage and market access services.
The company focuses on reducing post-harvest losses, a major challenge for farmers who often lose produce before it reaches buyers. By improving storage, handling, and aggregation, the investment is expected to support more than 5,000 farmers each year.
“This catalytic financing enables us to deliver inclusive market access and financial solutions that ensure smallholder farmers have access to reliable markets, prompt payments, and fair pricing,” said Denis Karema, Chief Executive Officer of SokoFresh.
SokoFresh said the expansion could increase farmer incomes by about 10 percent while reducing waste across fresh produce value chains.
The investments come at a time when official development assistance is declining, increasing pressure on donors and development partners to find new ways of supporting communities and local businesses.
Instead of relying only on grants, the facility uses loans and other financing tools to help businesses grow while continuing to serve farmers and underserved markets.
“These inaugural investments demonstrate how capital can be used to strengthen food systems, increase incomes for smallholder farmers, and address structural gaps in agricultural value chains,” said Chitkala Kalidas, Executive Director of Bayer Foundation.
UNCDF said the first transactions show how development finance can move beyond grants and help attract wider investment into underserved markets.
For farmers in Kenya and Uganda, the benefits may be immediate: better storage, stronger market access, improved farm support, and more dependable incomes.
The wider signal is that more funders are looking beyond traditional grants and backing practical solutions that can create lasting economic opportunity.
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