COVID-19 and Agri-food Businesses in Africa

Park&Pick is an online grocery store that sources fresh produce directly from farmers, cleaning, packaging, and delivering to subscribing customers. Immediately following the announcement of a lockdown in Rwanda, Segond Fidens Irag...

Park&Pick is an online grocery store that sources fresh produce directly from farmers, cleaning, packaging, and delivering to subscribing customers. Immediately following the announcement of a lockdown in Rwanda, Segond Fidens Iragena, the Founder and Managing Director of Park&Pick decided to take a new dimension to e-commerce by quickly innovating and rolling out a web application, thereby increasing access to its online grocery shop and reeling in 400% increase in sales despite the lockdown. Recognition from the government of Rwanda has further helped Park&Pick – this came in the form of a joint announcement by the Ministry of ICT, Ministry of Trade, Rwanda Information Society Agency and the Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority advising the Rwandan public to embrace e-commerce to flatten the curve. The announcement listed and endorsed 9 renowned e-commerce operators in the country, and Park&Pick made the list. This has made door-to-door delivery seamless for Park&Pick as its branded delivery van remain minimally unaffected by police roadblocks. Telecommunications companies in Rwanda have also waved transaction fees and banks have reached out to activate the full range of e-payment capability. From an average delivery of 2 – 4 orders per day before COVID, Park&Pick has made 10 – 15 deliveries every day in the last 3 weeks – thanks to innovation, resilience and institutional support. Park&Pick plans to onboard 300+ households, supporting them to conveniently access quality fresh food, critical to maintaining good health and boosting immunity in the face of the Corona pandemic.

Segond Fidens’s message to other agri-food businesses in Africa
“Now is the time to roll out your solutions and engage your customers! They will appreciate your support at this time and would want to have you around after the confinement! Let’s keep up the good work.”

Agrimod Solutions Center is a Kenyan based organization that provides specialized services in organic farming systems and technologies to agripreneurs toward promoting food security, environmental sustainability and biodiversity. Given the...

Agrimod Solutions Center is a Kenyan based organization that provides specialized services in organic farming systems and technologies to agripreneurs toward promoting food security, environmental sustainability and biodiversity. Given the Corona pandemic, Agrimod’s expert trainers have shifted focus from field trainings to online conferencing via Microsoft teams. The team quickly navigated to create online sessions where agriprenuers connect and share information. The Agrimod experts interact with agriprenuers over a period of time per day, sustaining its client base and driving new interests. According to David Adeoye, the Founder of Agrimod, “the response is so overwhelming, and we are certain to carry on beyond the pandemic”. Agrimod is also in the process of developing self-help videos which will be posted on their various platforms to aid the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices across the Continent

David’s message to other agri-food businesses in Africa:
“Once again, technology has proven to be indispensable to agriculture and we all need to pivot to leverage it in our businesses. Agri-food entrepreneurs should stop working in isolation but endeavor to create forward linkages to streamline value chain operations. For example, if there is more collaboration in the sector with more businesses leveraging technology, it would be easier to source inputs and have outputs delivered to consumers during this crisis.”

AAVF is a formal association comprosing of individual urban farmers, SMEs, research institutions and corporations working toward a sustainable future of farming in Africa. AAVF has had to jump from hands-on classroom to online vertical farming training sessi...

AAVF is a formal association comprosing of individual urban farmers, SMEs, research institutions and corporations working toward a sustainable future of farming in Africa. AAVF has had to jump from hands-on classroom to online vertical farming training sessions which will be fully operational on May 4. Since the lockdown commenced in Kenya, AAVF’s normal registration and information emails have quickly turned to an agriculture helpline, bringing in 20-30 emails from different stakeholders in a day. Stakeholders are urgently demanding for solutions for quick farm infrastructure for urban areas and AAVF staff have found themselves giving free telephone DIY vertical farming training, bringing sleeping gardens to fully operational food production systems in the past weeks. In the words of Peter Nyateng, AAVF’s Kenya Coordinator, “vertical farming is RESILIENCE!”

Peter’s message to other agri-food businesses in Africa:
“AAVF’s core values are driven by selflessness, UBUNTU and conviction that food is seasonal while hunger is not. Therefore, even as we go through this period of despondency created by the COVID-19 pandemic, we should embrace the spirit of sharing and an all in all enfolding brotherhood.”