But much of the fruit goes unsold and is left to rot due to a lack of storage facilities and the refusal of fruit processors to buy non-standard fruit. Poor handling and storage after harvest mean as much as a quarter of the fruit is estimated to be lost before it reaches the market.

Farm Africa worked with local women farmers to help them earn more money by:

• training them in better techniques so that they caould produce fruit of a standard high enough to sell to local processors
• training farmers to use technologies that enable year-round production and harvesting.
• seeking to obtain organic status so that the women could sell their pineapples consistently at premium prices in both local and overseas markets

Business skills

Helping women hone their business skills meant they were able to:

• buy more nutritious food and pay for medical costs and schooling
• participate as more equal partners in decision-making

Innovation

This is just one of many innovative projects across eastern Africa made possible by Farm Africa’s Maendeleo Agricultural Enterprise Fund.