Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship is honored to announce the close of our Food Systems Accelerator consisting of 14 social enterprises creating climate resilience in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Miller Center Food Systems Accelerator program was designed specifically for organizations who are building climate resilience through technology-enabled climate-smart agriculture solutions. These 14 enterprises deliver products or services in Africa that increase nutrition and food security, and/or build regenerative environmental systems as part of the agri-food value chain — including inputs, processing, storage, distribution, and retail. Our primary goal for the accelerator was to maximize each organization’s opportunity to attract capital by supporting their development of a cohesive business and growth strategy.
Throughout the 6-month program, I witnessed how resilient these entrepreneurs are as they faced unique challenges ranging from poor internet connectivity and pandemic-related business challenges to political uprisings in their countries and the heartbreaking deaths of loved ones. Yet, these 14 endured and completed the accelerator. I cannot express how proud I am to have journeyed with these amazing women and men, in addition to their patient and thoughtful mentors who were undeniably the backbone of their journeys throughout the program.
“…she asked me about my life. When you meet most mentors, they rarely do that, because they feel like it’s just all about business…We don’t exist in a vacuum as entrepreneurs. Our personal lives are obviously mingled with our business lives.” —Ryan Katayi, CEO & Co-Founder, Farmhut
“The sense of empathy, caring, team work, humanness exhibited in every touch point with Miller Center was incredible.” —Siva Ramamoorthy, Mentor for Flamingoo Foods
“It’s been an incredible joy…We applied to the program before COVID and then we obviously didn’t know if we’d still be around. So I’m really grateful to you to have helped walk us hand-in-hand through the pivoting process, through the staying-alive process, and the still-being-around process, and now back to growth again. So we really appreciate that from every point of view.” —Peter Nyeko, CEO, REPARLE
We may have reached the end of the accelerator, but our journey together does not end here. Together, let’s all continue to support these business leaders by assisting them in increasing the impact their missions are designed to deliver. Learn more about their work, get in touch to support them, and refer others who you think may want to work with them by sharing this blog and summary of their profiles.
