2015 was the first full trading year for TruTrade, an innovative start-up social enterprise which is majority-owned by Self Help Africa.

The initiative aims to increase income for smallholder farmers by adding value to their produce through innovations in transportation and processing.

With a focus on Uganda and Kenya, the initiative traded 750 metric tonnes of produce over this start-up period, across a variety of crops, with a total value of almost $300,000. All of the trading finance used for these trades has been recovered in full. Most importantly, the average price differential – the increase in price paid to farmers over and above the prevailing market rate – was 16%. For smallholder farmers living on less than a dollar a day, this can make a huge difference.

Our plans in 2016 are ambitious – we’re targeting a 200% increase in turnover of produce, and a price differential of 20% which will be achieved by investing further in innovative value chains.

This initiative is a game-changer for the smallholder farming communities with whom we work, increasing incomes in a sustainable way by involving traders, processors and end-retailers.

Self Help Africa supporters in Boston have been critical for the success of the initiative to date, providing the core of the current trading finance fund. As we seek to grow the start-up over the next 12 months, increasing our impact on poverty in rural Kenya and Uganda, this Boston support continues to be critical.

Find out more about this exciting social enterprise at trutrade.net