Strathmore University Business School and Fairtrade Africa Sign a Memorandum of Understanding

Agribusiness is considered the backbone of Kenya’s economy, contributes to 24% of Kenya’s GDP and accounts for 65 percent of Kenya’s exports. On Friday, 29th October, Strathmore University Business School (SBS) signed a partnership agreement with Fairtrade Africa aimed at fostering growth opportunities for Producer Organizations across Africa as well as increasing awareness on wealth creation, planning, innovation, clean energy environmental management and philanthropy.

Fairtrade Africa is a member of the wider International Fairtrade movement that represents Fairtrade certified producers in Africa and the Middle East. Fairtrade Africa operates four regional networks: Eastern and Central Africa Network (FTA-ECAN) based in Nairobi, Kenya; West Africa Network (FTA-WAN) based in Accra, Ghana; Southern Africa Network (FTA-SAN) based in Cape Town, South Africa and the Middle East and North Africa Network. Its secretariat is based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Fairtrade Africa is owned by its members, who are African producer organizations certified against international Fairtrade standards producing traditional export commodities such as coffee, cocoa, tea, cotton, bananas, mango and non-traditional commodities including shea butter and rooibos tea. Currently, the organization represents over 1 million producers across 33 countries in Africa.

Speaking during the signing ceremony Dr. George Njenga, Executive Dean at Strathmore University Business School, highlighted the importance of agribusiness value chains, “We must find new ways of transforming the agribusiness value chain in Africa through sustainability and fair trade. Through this partnership, we are going to look at the entire agribusiness value chain in a bid to alleviate the social economy and transform African farmers.”

Furthermore, Chris Olouch, Programmes Director at Fairtrade Africa, welcomed this partnership and highlighted some of the key areas of collaboration. These include:

• Research on improving producers’ food security and income generation needs
• Developing and implementing training collaborations as well as coaching modules for FTA Board and Management, FTA Staff, FTA producer organizations and FTA stakeholders
• Developing and implementing financial sourcing and resourcing mechanisms linking FTA Partner Organizations (POs) to financial institutions for business development and growth
• Incubating training modules to be incorporated in curriculum for tertiary and higher education institutions focused on areas where there are FTA Partner Organizations, and
• Developing and implementing innovations in the area sustainability with a focus on clean energy and environmental management

In conclusion, Fairtrade initiatives help to advance the socio-economic conditions that help small holder farmers and marginalized producers and workers to become self-sufficient and able to compete in the agricultural sector. The partnership between SBS and Fairtrade Africa has the potential to lay a solid foundation that can empower generations of producers and associated stakeholders to achieve sustainability and greater equity in international trade in the future through education and training.

Article by Shailja Sharma, Executive Fellow and Coach

 What’s your story? Would you like to share an article? Write to us at sbscommunication@strathmore.edu