Figure 4.4 Social inclusion recommendation for banana flour VC

Figure 4.4 Social inclusion recommendation for banana flour VC

Source: Atkins

Stawi is a youth-owned inclusive business founded in 2012 in Nairobi, by the Kenyan entrepreneur Eric Muthomi. The company creates employment for the youth and enables smallholder farmers to access a market their produce. The company’s main pillars are: a) supporting smallholders’ access to markets, b) affordable, nutritious food for consumers, c) creating jobs for youth and women.

It is an innovative start-up that sources grains and bananas from smallholder farmers in several parts of Kenya for processing into nutritious flour products. The idea is to support smallholders who have not accessed the market for a long time, have been exploited by middlemen or who face challenges such as post-harvest losses. The company’s leading brands are Stawi Junior Baby Porridge and Stawi Family Porridge, which have primarily been distributed through mainstream retail outlets across major Nairobi suburbs and neighbouring counties. Stawi’s products are precooked and also fortified with Vitamin A.

In 2014, Eric Muthomi joined the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) from USAID and in 2019 partnered with the USAID-funded Feed the Future Kenya Crops and Dairy Market Systems Activity and the United States Africa Development Foundation (USADF). This, for example, supported the purchase of solar and hot air dryers to minimize post-harvest losses, increased the volume of banana flour processed and improved the quality of the final product. USAID also provided training, mentorship, and funding. Currently, the company has diversified its products and now engages in several value chains (e.g. Sorghum, millet, amaranth, maize, wheat and soya beans).

Key programme elements Women’s and youth inclusion: Stawi works with women’s groups (chamas). They act as ‘community influencers’ and they engage with other women. Stawi trains these women as distributors and retailers, boosting their capacity to sell within their community, contributing to their empowerment, and helping them earn additional income. These women’s groups sell Stawi products in local markets and implement door-todoor campaigns with ‘brand ambassadors’.

Stawi also provides opportunities for employing women and youths at the processing units, for example, cleaning and semi-processing bananas into chips.

51. Interview, YALI (2020) Contributing to Food Security through Agro-processing: The Story of Stawi Foods and Fruits Limited, Available at: https://www.yalieastafrica.org/blog/index.php?entryid=65 (Accessed on 17/06/2021)

This VC project is for a husk processing facility using husk from rice milling as well as coffee and macadamia husk. Primarily the facility would produce husk lumber and later expand into producing a range of tableware.

> Husk lumber is an extruded profile wood substitute.

A range of profiles can be produced, either hollow or solid, depending on the application. The finished lumber can be handled in the same way as wood, by drilling and sawing, and it has greater durability; it will not rot and it is resistant to pests. Due to its great durability, husk lumber is often used in exposed outdoor applications, where it is subject to sun, sand and rain. > Husk tableware covers plates, bowls, cups, including reusable cups, and cutlery. The material is similar to melamine. It has good heat resistance, can be reused and is dishwasher-safe. The husk tableware is also fully biodegradable, and just needs to be broken to let water through the outer layer to activate the process. The key outcomes of this VC include:

> Provides good value-added options for rice, coffee and macadamia husk; > Supplies a weather resistant, low-cost construction material (lumber) to reduce pressure on local forestry resources; > Provides an alternative for single-use coffee cups; > Provides potential for exports (tableware); > Provides an end-use for recycled plastics, which can be used in some of the formulations; > Has good potential for future expansion as markets and product ranges develop; > Creates direct employment for around 48 full-time employees in husk lumber production, with a similar number in tableware, with high potential for employing people from special interest groups and those with disabilities.

Base Assessment

KC produces substantial volumes of husk each year. The 120,000 tonnes per year of paddy rice produced generates up to 24,000 tonnes of rice husk each year. This volume is set to double with completion of the new dam and irrigation areas. In addition to rice husk, KC also grows coffee and macadamia nuts in significant volumes, providing a further 4,000 tonnes of husk per year (based on 2013 volumes). There are also significant volumes of rice, coffee and macadamia husk produced in neighbouring counties.

Husk can be used for a large range of applications and products including:

> Insulation material; > Energy from direct burning (fluidised bed); > Pyrolysis gas production; > Charcoal briquettes or wood-type blocks for burning; > Additive to organic fertiliser, to improve aeration; > Fibre additive for composites extruded plastics (e.g.

Composite boards and planks); > Tableware, similar to melamine, but biodegradable; > Lumber (timber profiles). Currently rice husk in KC is either composted or left to rot, or burnt, with the ash used in cement production. Rice husk contains a high level of silica and after burning is highly porous and lightweight, making it a good material for bulking cement. Macadamia and coffee husk are rarely used for any applications beyond composting.

Reviewing the options available for utilising husks, the two stand-out options are the production of husk lumber and tableware. The husk lumber provides a good value, high volume use of husk suitable for the local construction sector, while the tableware is a higher value product with lower overall volumes suitable for some local use and exports. This VC is then for a facility combining production of these two husk products, initially focussing on the husk lumber before expanding into producing the more technical tableware products.

Development of the husk VC is supported by:

> Kirinyaga Government: processing husk has been identified as a potential VC and the County Government has reviewed a range of processing options; > Big Four Agenda: prioritises the manufacturing sector which covers all areas of agri-processing, including bi-products; > Affordable housing programme: targeting the construction of 500,000 homes by 2022. Sector Supply Chain

The husk would be sourced from rice millers, coffee processors, and macadamia processors (once established) across KC. There is potential to source husk from neighbouring counties as well.

The lumber would be sold into the local construction market, alongside other building products.

The husk tableware is a high value item, and most of it would be for the export market, especially to Europe.