Self Help Africa’s inventive new farmers trading platform TruTrade has been presented with a prestigious award for innovation.

The creative approach taken by TruTrade to connecting rural poor farmers with profitable markets was presented with the 2018 ‘Dochas Innovation in Development Award,’ at a prize-giving ceremony in Dublin, last month.

The social enterprise, which operates mainly in Kenya and Uganda, acts as a trading platform, linking farmers to the market and providing them with a better price for their crops. The platform aims to turn small farms into profitable businesses for thousands of poor farmers in rural Africa.

“We’re delighted with the award,” said TruTrade CEO Jenny Rafanamezana. “It’s a recognition from our peers that we’re making real progress in bringing increased value to smallholder producers by making rural trading more efficient.”

Indeed, on average, farmers in Uganda and Kenya have seen their income from the sale of their crops increase by 15% in 2018, across 12 commodities ranging from soy and sesame to cassava and avocado.

“We’re looking forward to helping more farmers in 2019, as well as continuing to develop out this digital platform to offer more services to smallholder farmers,” concluded Jenny Rafanamezana.

Read Agnes’ story to find out more about the work of TruTrade.