PARTNERS IN FOOD SOLUTIONS

A farmer without a market for their crops... is a gardener

Local African food processors are the "missing middle" to unlocking the enormous potential of Africa's food system. 

Partners in Food Solutions (PFS) identifies and helps these entrepreneurial food companies increase their growth, competitiveness and resiliency by harnessing the power of seven global food-industry leaders: General Mills, Cargill, Hershey, the J.M. Smucker Company, DSM, Bühler, and Ardent Mills.

When these businesses thrive, the whole food value chain thrives along with them. As they succeed, they increase demand for crops from smallholder farmers, they hire more employees, and they create safer and more affordable products for consumers. After all, a farmer without a market for their crops is just a gardener.

PFS has now supported nearly 1,700 clients since inception. The 300+ clients that we have worked most closely with source from 1.3 million smallholder farmers, employ over 24,000 individuals, and produce over 50 billion safer, more nutritious and more affordable meal servings each year. More than 35% are owned or managed by women, which is significantly higher than the average across the parts of Africa where we serve.

This is a critical moment for food security and Africa and beyond.

Supply chain clogs from the pandemic continue to linger. Price spikes to key inputs like fertilizer have been triggered by the conflict in Russia and Ukraine.  Meanwhile, broader inflation and climate change pose ongoing threats. 

Antonio Guterres, head of the United Nations, recently warned of a ‘catastrophe’ from global food shortages, and noted a real risk of multiple famines to be declared in Africa in 2023.

Yet hope remains high. Africa has the potential to be a world leader in food, holding 60% of the world's uncultivated, arable land. Much is being done to strengthen farmers and support consumers. Now, by lifting up the middle of the value chain, the African food system can begin to flourish.

How We Help

Employee volunteers from each of our seven consortium companies are matched by PFS to an African business (our "clients") in order to help solve all kinds of food and business related challenges via technical assistance and knowledge transfer. From food safety to quality assurance, finance to branding, technology to equipment, there is not a single challenge that hasn’t already been solved by someone within our pool of 1,300 volunteer employees from these companies.

PFS further supports our high-potential clients through further services like matching recent college grads for a year-long apprenticeship, assistance gaining international certification, and a gap financing program to make it possible for companies to purchase equipment or access the working capital needed to spur their growth.

How You Can Help

Please join PFS in our efforts to help improve the nutritional quality, safety and affordability of food locally sourced, produced and consumed in Africa. Thanks to the generosity of our corporate partners, which more than cover all U.S. based operations, 100% of your gift goes directly to our work in Africa, which is leveraged further through the support of our clients to produce more than 50 billion healthy, nutritious affordable meals every year.