World Grain - June 2021 - 53

Engaging the 'missing middle'
The challenge for Bountifeld is, and always has been,
finding a way to distribute technology in a population
that has very little capital, Spieldoch said.
To do this, Bountifield focuses on engaging what it
calls " the missing middle, " which refers to the micro,
small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that comprise
90% of registered businesses in Africa and employ
60% of the country's workforce. Despite large investments
in African development, very little of it reaches
this middle demographic for establishing and growing
their businesses, Spieldoch said.
" The missing middle includes a large swath of the
population in the agricultural or rural sectors that really
could be a pull factor for new market development, " she
said. " There is new thinking on how to better reach these
smallholder farmers. It's not to give away equipment or
just drop it off in a community and see what happens but
to actually create a market-led approach where somebody
is an actual customer for a technology, and they
see a genuine return on investment for that. By focusing
on the missing middle, the food and agricultural market
growth will be much faster than it would be otherwise. "
Kloeber said Bountifeld reaches smallerholder farmers
through fee-for-service businesses in what she calls
a " one-to-many approach. "
" One threshing business can reach hundreds of farmers
with a single multi-crop thresher, " she said. " By
working with these entrepreneuers on their businesses,
it develops and expands technology support services
for farmers without the farmers having to invest in each
piece of technology they need. "
Bountifield's goal is to not only mechanize post-harvest
processing in sub-Saharan Africa but to support entrepreneurial
development in rural communities to cultivate a
thriving agriculture industry and resilient food systems.
Spieldoch said the organization is " doing a job the private
sector isn't ready to do yet. " This may include providing
mentorship on a range of topics from financial management,
product pricing, and marketing best practices.
" For the private sector, it is risky to invest in the market
we're in as it can be quite costly, " she said. " We are
World-Grain.com / World Grain / June 2021
creating a future market for the private sector. As a nonprofit
we can assume some of this risk. We not only are
bringing new technology to the market, but we're also
working to create more demand for that technology by
working with entrepreneurs and helping them develop
a strong business plan for what they're doing. We use
donor support to help with co-investing. "
Fundraising challenges
Bountifield is working to expand its donor base, which
primarily has consisted of corporate sponsorship from
General Mills as well as individual donations, including
current and former General Mills employees.
General Mills also is well represented on Bountifield's
board of directors, which over the years has included
representatives of other Minneapolis-based companies
such as Cargill and Bühler.
" We have a history of individual donor giving and we
also receive grants and are currently finishing up some
work through the McKnight Foundation and USAID's
Feed the Future, " she said. " So, we're a mix of private
and public (funding). One of the things we are wanting
to expand is our corporate partnerships and corporate
sponsorships, giving packages where we can really get
a whole movement of experts in a sector who are really
behind this work and really want to give back. "
To date, the biggest obstacle Bountifield has faced,
Spieldoch said, is garnering the funding to execute its
mission. The organization has accomplished many of its
goals in terms of improving post-harvest efficiency in
sub-Saharan Africa - Spieldoch estimates the program
has touched " hundreds of thousands of lives " - but
more funding will be needed if Bountifield is to reach its
stated goal of reaching 10 million people by 2030.
" Together we can build a more bountiful future where
the persistent cycle of hunger and poverty in Africa no
longer exists, " she said.
To learn more about the organization or to make a
donation, visit: https://bountifield.org.
We want to hear from you - Send comments and inquiries
to worldgrain@sosland.com. For reprints of WG articles,
email reprints@sosland.com.
53
Left: Equipment
designed for
small-scale
farming can be
mounted on motorbikes
for transport
to rural areas
for mobile processing,
making
mechanized labor
more accessible
for smallholder
farmers.
Right: A member
of a farm cooperative
inspects
the progress of
the cassava being
dried inside the
solar dryer.
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World Grain - June 2021

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