Announcing the Launch of the Good Food Innovation Fund
Good Food Innovation Fund Launches to Support Nutritious and Affordable Food across Sub-Saharan Africa
The Fund invests in small and medium sized business to expand access to ‘Good Food’ for low income communities
March 28, 2022 (Kenya) - Intellecap Advisory Services, with the support of The Rockefeller Foundation, has launched the USD$5,000,000 Good Food Innovation Fund (GFIF) to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) within Sub-Saharan Africa that are revolutionizing the availability and affordability of ‘Good Food’ in low-income communities. This investment aims to promote nutritious, regenerative, and equitably produced and distributed food while mitigating barriers such as high prices, consumer preferences, and unfavorable policy that impede access to Good Food.
Implemented by Intellecap Africa, the Good Food Innovation Fund is currently seeking applications from small and medium enterprises that address the issues of availability, equitable access, and affordability of ‘Good Food’ among low-income communities. The Fund also has a special interest in any enterprises working with Good Food targeting school feeding programs.
Mehrdad Ehsani, Managing Director, The Rockefeller Foundation, said, “SMEs are the engine of growth for economies and closest to the communities that we serve. Supporting them improve efficiencies along the supply chain, reduce the cost of production, increase their competitiveness, and enable them to increase their reach and cost of their products to low-income populations.”
There are many inefficiencies in the Good Food supply chain, including high transaction costs, access to land, infrastructure challenges, access to credit, information inefficiencies, and market inefficiencies, which drive up Good Food prices.[1] The Good Food Innovation Fund aims to increase the supply of Good Food in target countries while simultaneously reducing the cost.
The Fund focuses on commercially active SMEs in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, and Malawi. The first phase of funding will run in Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi. Applications are currently being accepted, and the deadline for submission is April 22, 2022. Apply Now!
Selected SMEs will receive funding in repayable grants, technical assistance, capital facilitation support, and guidance to scale and reach new markets. Interested SMEs can apply for funding dependent on their development stages, with funding available up to a maximum of USD$200,000 per business.
“The Fund is a novel way for SMEs to address access to affordable and nutritious foods, the underlying impact of which is significant. We are excited to work with The Rockefeller Foundation and all the SMEs joining us in this journey,” Karnika Yadav, Associate Partner, Intellecap Africa. “We are eager to help discover and transform innovative ideas that will benefit the Good Food ecosystem. In turn, it will improve productivity and income of Vulnerable Communities that provide inputs along the supply chain for Good Foods as well as improve the health of low-income communities across eight focussed countries.”