Kenya Innovation Engine portfolio attracts Ksh  820 million funding

The Kenya Innovation Engine (KIE), a USAID-funded program Feed the Future initiative has attracted funding worth over Ksh  820 million since inception.

The innovations provide solutions to farmers’ needs through mobile commerce, supply chain automation, knowledge management and cashless transaction systems, automated milk-weighing and receipting solutions, and livestock insurance through several state-of-the-art modules.

This was revealed in a forum that honored entrepreneurs, investors, counties, and farming cooperatives who have participated in bringing 24 agricultural innovations to more than 202,000 smallholder farmers in 35 counties in Kenya.

The five-year program has identified, nurtured and brought to scale innovative, private sector-oriented solutions to food insecurity, undernutrition, and poverty.

“We commend the support from national and county governments, as well as from investors at the project and enterprise levels – all of which we consider as invaluable co-investors,” said Tina Dooley-Jones, USAID Deputy Mission Director for Kenya and East Africa.

“The fact that the farmers are parting with money over and over again, makes us confident that when we close the program, the interventions will continue, led by these private sector players,” said Titianne Donde-Ommes, KIE’s Chief-of-Party.

KIE’s partnership with USAID has leveraged $8.2 million worth of private sector investment and created more than 6,000 jobs at the business and farm level.