Nearly 50% of harvested fruit and vegetables in Kenya is lost before it even reaches the customer, due to fragmented and uninformed supply chains. That means for every avocado you eat, one has been lost. At the same time a large portion of the population suffers from malnutrition and food insecurity. By building and scaling local, commercial companies that radically improve professionalism and efficiency across the domestic fruit and vegetable value chain, FoodFlow has the audacious goal to reduce this number from 50% to 0. Since this year the program has begun building and testing solutions. One of the companies within FoodFlow that is being built in this food chain, with the support of the DOEN Foundation, is Taimba. Where on average it takes six transactions for produce to get from farmer to consumer, Taimba radically rethinks this supply chain providing predictable demand by directly connecting farmers to sellers. Esther is one of these sellers and, as part of Taimba’s team, Brian delivers produce to her. Together they give us a peek into what the daily impact is of Covid-19 on their work and lives.
Always on time
“I source all my fruits and vegetables from Taimba,” Esther says confidently. “You can confirm with Ruto, I always buy from him. Si ndio Ruto (Is it true Ruto)?” Brian Ruto gives a nod and confirms with a smile, “I am a sales representative with Taimba in charge of the Kiambu Route of which Esther Njeri is one of my good customers.”
“I buy from Taimba because they are fairly priced and bring to us produce that is of good quality,” Esther continues. “The most important thing is that they deliver on time. I no longer have to worry about waking up early in the wee hours of the morning to go the market myself to make direct purchases and that time is now better used bonding with my family.”
