Kenya was one of the Global Nutrition Report’s (GNR) star performers in 2017 in terms of stunting reduction – with levels nationally of 26%. Yet, the country is in full “double burden” mode with undernutrition and other manifestations of malnutrition such as obesity and diabetes running in parallel, often in the same communities or families.
At GAIN, over the last six months we’ve been building a new Nutritious Foods Financing programme starting in East Africa. The potential of the programme is becoming increasingly exciting as data becomes available showing the scope and viability of SMEs to deliver more nutritious foods, if appropriate private investments are unlocked.
Food businesses are governed by many food laws and sometimes this doesn’t stand out as an enabling environment for trading in Kenya. Businesses are required to work with a multiple of regulators to ensure that they are compliant to food standards. The number of licences required to run a food business are many and all of them cost a fortune.
