Improving food security and alleviating poverty of small scale farmers by converting harvest loss into nutritious, gluten-free and affordable food products

Eric Muthomi

Awarded by Forbes as one of the Top 30 under 30 young entrepreneurs in Africa, Eric is a lawyer by education but social entrepreneur at heart. Eric founded Stawi in 2010, to enable small scale farmers to earn a sustainable income and change the culture of exploitation by the middlemen’s self interest. Eric saw the problems of persistent poverty cycles that farmers in Meru, his hometown in central Kenya were facing. The high perishability of the banana and the seasonal nature of its farming causes high food wastage and income instability. Bananas would rot in the farms during the harvest season, especially those belonging to small scale farmers who could not get to the middlemen’s collection center on market days. All the while, the country still face problems of extreme hunger and low nutrition levels among children.

 

Eric took part in SE Forum’s SE Outreach Accelerator in 2015.

 

Stawi

Stawi

Stawi began as a banana flour processing business in 2011 and has now diversified into pre-cooked fortified porridge flours for babies and adults which is affordable for the Bottom of the Pyramid market. Stawi would like to increase its social impact by securing institutional and international demands for their gluten-free and socially responsible products.