Our consultant Annelien Meerts is since April engaged as institutional and MSD expert in a project of CBI in the Moroccan IT sector. The aim of the project is to reduce youth unemployment by strengthening Moroccan IT SMEs, by developing services that support them in exporting their services and that improve their HR practices to better attract, develop and retain talented youth. A team of 4 experts: institutional and MSD experts Annelien Meerts and Heuda Guessous and IT sector experts Jack Put and Amine Zarouk are implementing the project.

On the 12th of April marked a significant milestone for our collaborative efforts in the Ziway water hyacinth project as we convened for the “Closing & Way Forward” session. The gathering was a vibrant mix of stakeholders including our consortium partners—Dutch rose growers from Ziway, local government representatives, the energetic youth from the briquettes groups, and the creative women from the handicraft groups. 

On April 26, 2024 in Bamako we organized a ceremony full of emotions and celebration, marking the closing of the Growth Support Program for Malian Small and Medium Enterprises (PAC-PME). Initiated in August 2022 with the first cohort in Bamako, the PAC-PME has since extended its impact through four cohorts, including two in Bamako, one in Sikasso and one in Ségou. This ceremony not only celebrates the successes of the program but also officially inaugurates the Alliance Mali Mentors (AMM), a professional network of entrepreneur mentors, representing a new chapter in the continued support of Malian entrepreneurs. PAC-PME will continue to consolidate its results until September of this year.

In Ethiopia, addressing the challenges of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) is pivotal to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite concerted efforts by the Ethiopian government, the road to ensuring universal access to clean water and adequate sanitation remains fraught with significant challenges, including a daunting funding gap nearing US$3 billion. In response to this pressing issue, the government has underscored the critical need to raise for private capital for the WASH sector. This blog post explores a ground breaking initiative that aims to integrate the financial sector into solving these WASH challenges, culminating in a learning event that offered valuable insights and strategic directions. 

In a recent collaborative effort spearheaded by Fair and Sustainable Consulting, together with Governor H.E. Mwalimu Mutahi Kahiga, a pivotal meeting was held with a delegation from Fair and Sustainable Insect Farms. This meeting marked the beginning of an innovative venture aimed at revolutionizing waste management practices in Nyeri County, Kenya.

F&S consultants Annelien Meerts, Laura Martinussen and Andrew Kizito Muganga have mapped the the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) sector in Keny and Uganda. It is part of the ‘Animal Feed Commercialization Project’ implemented by the Subregional Office for Eastern Africa of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with funding from Mastercard Foundation. BSF production is emerging as a new agricultural sub-sector. It is a sustainable and circular source of protein for animal feed, which is much needed in East Africa. However, the production of BSF is still in its infancy and knowledge on the value chain remains limited. This research contributed to more in-depth-knowledge on what is happening in the BSF value chain in Kenya and Uganda, what actors there are and what its potential is.

Edit Column Edit Text Editor F&S’s Projet d’Accompagnement à la Croissance des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises or PAC-PME (accompanying small businesses to growth) is in full swing. The project, financed by the Dutch Enterprise Agency (RVO), is implemented in Bamako, Sikasso and Ségou, in Mali. 100 young entrepreneurs, of whom 40% women, are supported with mentorships, training courses, and connections to investors to enable them to grow their business and grow personally.

Recently, PAC PME successfully launched its fourth and final cohort in Ségou town. At the time of writing, the first mentor intervision and peer coaching event for the entrepreneurs are taking place. [Récemment, PAC PME a lancé avec succès sa quatrième et dernière cohorte dans la ville de Ségou. Au moment d’écrire ces lignes, le premier événement d’intervision de mentors et de coaching par les pairs pour les entrepreneurs a lieu]

Together with Inclsve, Fair & Sustainable Consulting’s Marjoleine Motz did research for GIZ on the influence of purchasing practices by retailers on producers.

A framework and tool for development practitioners and agri-service providers, to analyse the delivery of agri-support services from a gender perspective has been developed.

BSF is still in its infancy and knowledge on the value chain remains limited. This research contributes to more in-depth-knowledge on the BSF value chain in Kenya and Uganda

On March 23 and 24, PAC PME organized two bootcamps for the entrepreneurs and mentors of its third cohort.The bootcamps have resulted in the selection of 26 entrepreneurs, and 13 new mentors. [Les 23 et 24 mars derniers, PAC PME a organisé deux bootcamps pour les entrepreneurs et mentors de sa troisième cohorte. Les bootcamps ont permis de sélectionner 26 entrepreneurs et 13 nouveaux mentors.]

Update of the progress in the Dembel Emboch Products Pilot, which is centered on water hyacinth and entreprensurship.

F&S has an (in company) business case development training that can be followed online or face-to-face. At the end of the training participants have developed a business case for their own specific context.

Since the start of 2022, Fair & Sustainable Consulting is implementing a new programme in Mali entitled Projet d’Accompagnement à la Croissance des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises or PAC-PME (accompanying small businesses to growth).

More and more NGOs and donors are switching to Market Systems Development (MSD) as a new approach for their international economic development programs. CAFOD, together with F&S, started a journey to get familiar with the MSD approach and to apply it to their economic development programs in Africa. 

Fair and Sustainable (F&S) conducted a mid-term evaluation (MTE) focused on the achievements of the Building Bridges for Women Economic Empowerment (BBWEE) programme, using the Most Significant Change (MSC) approach

Fair & Sustainable Consulting, together with DanChurchAid (DCA), is supporting youth to set up commercial Black Soldier Fly (BSF) Farms in Nakuru county.

Five months ago, Fair and Sustainable Consulting (F&S) and DanChurchAid (DCA) embarked on a journey to find the best young entrepreneurs in Nakuru County to set up commercial Black Soldier Fly (BSF) farms under the umbrella of Fair & Sustainable Insect Farms.

In the field of (agricultural) economic development, many development organizations have started to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs), who are considered to be the motor of the economy.

In January 2021 Fair & Sustainable consulting has started a pilot Black Soldier Fly farm in Eldoret, Kenya. Everlyne Songoi is the owner of this farm. This blog post describes her story.

RSPO aims to make the palm oil sector fair and sustainable, for this purpose the RSPO standard includes gender-related Principles and Criteria (P&C).

Fair & Sustainable Ethiopia – in partnership with Niras – IP Consult and MDF – has been contributing to the Ethio-German Financial Cooperation: Vocational Education and Agricultural Training Programme through activities including gender-sensitive strategy, and provision of capacity building workshops for TVET colleges and institutions in Ethiopia.

F&S Ethiopia are participating in a project entitled “Developing Inclusive and Profitable Dairy Value Chains for Pastoralist Communities in Borena Zone”, as co-implementer with our consortium partners CST Ethiopia, CIFA, and OPA.

Interested in superfood Moringa or gourmand food Baie Rose (pink peppercorn) from Madagascar?

Fair & Sustainable Consulting (F&S) offers services on value chain development in adapted format now that many value chain projects and programmes are affected by COVID-19 measures.

The leaves of the “Miracle Tree” Moringa oleifera are becoming more and popular among health-conscious consumers all over the world. Dasha Gretchikhine – intern at Fair & Sustainable Consulting – dived into the complex matter of Moringa’s nutritional content and its retention throughout cultivation and processing.

Many organizations engaged in international economic development search for ways to efficiently increase the sustainability, impact and scale of their work. F&S shows  that Market Systems Development (MSD) is a method that can deliver such results.

IDH published a new Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) tool which helps track and evaluate gender-equality interventions. The tool is the result of a Gender Business Case Evaluation study conducted by Fair & Sustainable (F&S) Ethiopia in collaboration with F&S Netherlands, in 2018. 

Questions to ask for market research that address challenges encountered when analysing market data.

These are the results of a study carried out by Fair & Sustainable Consulting (F&S) for the GIZ Sectoral Programme “International Forest Policy” (SV IWP) in Madagascar.

Fair & Sustainable Ethiopia, in collaboration with AgriProFocus Ethiopia, organized a four and half day training on Gender in agricultural value chains for participants from prominent development organizations.

From 20 to 24 June 2019, F&S gave a training in Kindia (Guinea) for all companies and organizations that are involved in the mango value chain. During the training, main actors involved in the mango sector were trained to gain a common comprehension of ways to analyse and develop the mango sector.

F&S was hired by CBI to conduct a value chain selection in Egypt, Uganda, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Central was exploring opportunitiess to make these value chains more inclusive and fair while increasing export to Europe.

West Africa plays a key role in cashew nut production, but is not currently visible in the consumer market. F&S analysed the value chain for cashew processing in West Africa to determine possibilities for expansion on behalf of CBI.

IDH commissioned a study in the Ethiopian flower sector to test the hypothesis that Gender interventions increase workers’ satisfaction and engagement and lead to changes in employee attitudes, behavior, and work motivation, which leads to improved business performance.

At Fair & Sustainable we often need to collect data for a value chain analysis or value chain development monitoring. Kobo Collect provides an open-access tool which is valuable even for less experienced enumerators.

F&S Consulting and People in Need (PIN), signed a contract for a Market Systems Development (MSD) capacity building process. F&S supported with expert training and support consultancy.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) published a guiding note on an interesting topic: ‘Gender and food loss in sustainable value chains’.

This summer Fair & Sustainable and ADE (Belgium) evaluated the ‘Project of support to Participatory forest management pilots and biomass energy production in 9 districts of Rwanda (PAREF NL2)’using quantitative data analysis and the MSC approach.

The practical guide developed assists internationally sourcing SMEs to make their chain sustainable and reduce the risk of negative impacts on human rights.

F&S was awaded a contract by GIZ to perform an in-depth value chain analysis for the selection of value chains and inclusive business models in Malawi.

Fair & Sustainable, together with AgriProFocus, made an infographic to visualize Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE)

Studies on the beans and cassava value chains were conducted in support of the Sustainable Agriculture Kigoma Regional Project (SAKiRP) to facilitate value chain development.

As today’s farms in developed countries become more familiar with technology and investments in AgTech are picking up, how can geodata and ICT solutions also bring value to smallholder farmers?

F&S, in collaboration with Nucleus Foundation, conducted the External Evaluation of the UTZ Certified tea programme to inform UTZ and stakeholders on the outcomes of the tea programme and identify lessons and recommendations.

A better position of women in African emerging markets provides advantages for women as well as for companies.

In June 2016, ten AgriProFocus Gender in Value Chain (GVC) coaches from a variety of countries (ranging from Ethiopia, Uganda and Zambia to Benin and Indonesia), gathered in Kampala for a training.

Fair & Sustainable helped develop guidelines providing development practitioners with a tool to identify value chains with the most potential to achieve their development objectives and targets.

ICCO Cooperation and Fair & Sustainable have developed a tool for gender inclusive development and assessment of project proposals.

Fair & Sustainable conducted an external evaluation of a ZOA, DCR funded programme, with the specific theme of: Community-based livelihood development in view of peace and stability.

‘Women as Inclusive Business partners’ initiative is built on the recognition that there is a business case for the private sector to actively engage low-income women in their value chains