Agriculture pays the bills in Kenya, supporting 80% of the country’s population. However, small businesses and farmers in Kenya often lack access to the business supports they need to prosper. Without access to technology, agricultural inputs, business services, and finance businesses and farmers in Kenya struggle to get by. Women-led businesses often face even stricter challenges.
This is where the M-SAWA project comes in. Thanks to the generosity of our private donors, and the financial support of Global Affairs Canada, MEDA is contributing to Kenya’s economic growth and increasing job creation. The M-SAWA project improves the business, environmental, and gender performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small entrepreneurs (SEs) in the agriculture, construction, and extractives sectors. The seven-year project, active from 2015 to 2022, targeted 20 counties experiencing poverty along Kenya’s two major economic growth corridors and was designed to benefit 250 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and 20,000 small entrepreneurs.
By partnering with our clients, your support provided:
- New Knowledge: Improved SE knowledge of profitable green business models and market opportunities
- Innovation: Better access to environmentally safe inputs and time and labor-saving technologies
- Business Alliances: Access to profitable market opportunities
- Growth Strategy: Increased capacities of businesses to put into action more gender-equitable and environmentally sustainable business growth plans
- Supply Chain: Increased capacities of SMEs to reduce their environmental footprint and supply high-quality products
- Frontier Investment: Increased access to capital by SMEs in target sectors
“Being a farmer and Agrovet dealer has provided me with a source of income that enables me to educate my children and sustain my family’s needs.”
– Esther
With twenty years in the business, Esther is familiar with the ups and downs of farming.
M-SAWA is another example of how your partnership can create decent work and make a substantial impact. Through your remarkable generosity, hardworking farmers and entrepreneurs gain access to the necessary tools to build profitable farms, businesses, and reliable value chains that support their growing industry.
