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Maendeleo Agricultural Enterprise Fund

A farmer with her sorghum crop in Kenya A farmer with her sorghum crop in Kenya

The Maendeleo Agricultural Enterprise Fund (MAEF) was a venture philanthropy programme managed by Farm Africa.

 

MAEF worked to identify, support and scale-up rural enterprises that contribute to a functioning market that smallholders can engage with, thereby lifting themselves out of poverty. MAEF built upon the successes of and lessons learned from its predecessor, the Maendeleo Agricultural Technology Fund (MATF), which provided small-scale farmers in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda with better access to improved agricultural technologies.

From 2002-2010, MATF provided grants for 67 technology transfer projects, raising household incomes between 60 and 400 percent. A detailed evaluation indicated that even greater impact could be achieved by improving market linkages and business training. Technology transfer had been an important first step, but to deliver the macro-level changes Farm Africa was aiming for at the time required a more focused, market-based approach. With this in mind, Farm Africa launched the Maendeleo Agricultural Enterprise Fund in 2011.

Please note the Maendeleo Agricultural Enterprise Fund is now closed and is no longer accepting applications for funding.

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