Blog Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises as an entry point for improving diets of consumers in the informal neighborhoods of Africa

In Kisumu, western Kenya, the leafy vegetables and freshly caught fish that fill market stalls each morning are more than staples — they are lifelines. Yet, despite their potential, actors in these value chains often operate in unhygienic environments, with little business training and minimal access to markets. 

That began to change under the HealthyFoodAfrica Project, where FECB researchers working in the Kisumu Food System Lab (FSL-Ki), collaborated with the County Government of Kisumu, market vendors and processors of African leafy vegetables (ALVs) and fish in urban informal settlements of Kisumu to reimagine these value chains from the ground up. Vendors received training in business operations, financial literacy, and food safety, equipping them to manage their enterprises more efficiently and hygienically. Drying racks for fish were introduced in the fish market to prevent drying fish and fish products directly on the ground. Additionally, raised platforms/stands were introduced, allowing vendors to place their fish and vegetables on clean raised surfaces instead of the dusty market floors or wooden platforms that are hard to clean — a simple yet profound step toward better food safety. The drying racks and raised platforms used are also gender-sensitive since they are easily foldable and light hence catering for the needs of female vendors who can easily move them from one place to another. 

Nutrition education was woven into every interaction, ensuring that vendors not only sell healthy food but understand and champion its value. By fostering market linkages and increasing access to safer vending infrastructure, the project is helping ALVs and fish — both nutrient-rich foods — reach more plates in informal settlements, where diet diversity is often lacking. As small-scale actors become stronger players in the market, they are not just feeding families — they are fueling a more inclusive and nutritious urban food system. 

These changes may seem simple — but they’re profound. With improved knowledge and better market infrastructure, vendors report better sales, stronger customer relationships, and a growing sense of pride in their work.

A different story was unfolding in the Viwandani–Makueni corridor. On one front, smallholder farmers in Makueni were producing organic fruits and vegetables with insufficient access to stable markets for their produce. On the other side were urban dwellers in Viwandani, a low-income area of Nairobi, who struggled to find affordable, safe fruits and vegetables. 

Imagine a tomato harvested just this morning in rural Makueni landing on a plate in urban Nairobi by evening — safe, organic, and affordable. That’s the vision behind our Viwandani–Makueni project, which is closing the gap between farmers and consumers through education, food safety, and better market linkages. 

Recognizing the disconnect, the FECB team and its partners stepped in to build the capacity of farmers to produce safe, nutritious and organic produce — and just as crucially, to navigate the market systems that determine whether that food reaches consumers. Our approach begins with the soil. Farmers are trained to grow fruits and vegetables organically and safely, ensuring that what’s harvested is not only nutritious but free from harmful inputs. Meanwhile, community members in urban areas are sensitized on the value of safe, organic produce, driving up demand and creating new market opportunities. Through training and community knowledge-sharing, farmers and vendors alike began to embrace food safety practices and understand the value of organic produce for health and market differentiation. 

With over 35,000 food vendors in its network, Twiga Foods — a Kenyan agri-tech and logistics company — represents one of the most ambitious models for reshaping urban food supply chains. FECB researchers saw an opportunity: what if this network could be harnessed not just for profit, but for nutrition-sensitive, inclusive, and safer urban food systems? 

Through the Hungry Cities project and in partnership with Twiga, the team introduced a suite of ICT-based tools to improve vendor coordination, enhance traceability, and streamline distribution logistics. The digital tools enable better communication across the value chain — from farm to kiosk — while helping vendors in informal settlements become integrated into this evolving network.  

Importantly, food safety didn’t take a back seat. Vendors received training in proper food handling and awareness of food safety, which helped reduce market-level postharvest losses and ensured that food arrived fresh and uncontaminated.

Snacks are everywhere — in school bags, at roadside stalls, even on supermarket shelves. But in Embu and Nairobi, a quiet revolution is reshaping what snacking means for health, tradition, and opportunity. 

The initiative began with the questions: What if a handful of forgotten grains could spark an entire movement? How can we revive traditional, underutilized crops in a way that is exciting, profitable, and nutritious? 

That’s the thinking behind our work with pressure popping technology. Born from research insights on the decline of diverse diets and neglect of traditional crops, the pressure cooker initiative reintroduces nutrient-dense grains like sorghum, lablab, green grams, and pearl millet — not as flour or porridge, but as modern, tasty snacks. 

The FECB team partnered with DK Engineering Ltd., which developed and locally manufactured the pressure popping machine. This innovation has reached entrepreneurs and community groups, who have received training on how use the equipment for both household nutrition and small-scale business ventures. It wasn’t just about machines; it was about reclaiming food heritage while making it relevant ‒ and delicious ‒ for today’s fast-paced lifestyles. 

In the dry, sun-drenched fields of Makueni County, mangos flourish. Their golden ripeness is a source of pride and income for local farmers — but also, heartbreak. With short harvest windows and limited cold storage, up to 60% of harvested mangoes are lost before reaching market. For a region already grappling with climate unpredictability and slim profit margins, such waste is more than a missed opportunity — it’s a systemic crisis. 

Under The CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology, the FECB team, other Alliance researchers, CGIAR centers and partners set out to change that. The focus? Integrating agroecological principles into the mango value chain, strengthening the market linkage between producers and the processing company, and demonstrating how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can lead the change toward a sustainable food system transformation through sustainable production and consumption, market linkages to reduce loss and waste, and the use of a circular economy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 

At the center of the solution stood an innovative private processor — a small enterprise with big ambitions. This processor sourced mangoes from farmer groups committed to organic and agroecological farming and began transforming fresh fruit into dried mango products destined for both local shelves and international markets. The CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology provided mango producers with training on the adoption of agroecological principles, farm management practices, climate-smart approaches, commodity handling, pricing, and marketing. The SME received training on several topics, including agroecological principles, commodity sourcing, market linkages, and waste recycling.

In many local markets, waste is more than just an eyesore—it poses serious challenges to business success, food safety, and the environment. Customers are understandably hesitant to buy food from vendors surrounded by garbage. Beyond deterring buyers, unmanaged organic waste releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas that accelerates climate change. The foul stench contributes to air pollution, while the waste itself becomes a breeding ground for pests and disease. When it leaches into the soil and nearby water sources, it contaminates them with harmful pathogens and excess nutrients, disrupting ecosystems, and threatening public health. 

What if that waste could be transformed into something valuable? 

That is what The CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology has achieved in Kiambu County. The FECB staff, other Alliance staff, other CGIAR centers and partners worked with SMEs and pioneered a sustainable solution: collecting organic market waste and recycling it into nutrient-rich organic fertilizer using windrow composting and vermicomposting (using redworms).