KawiSafi is developing investment strategies to address the essential needs of growing populations in Africa. Access to energy, transportation, and telecommunications are critical to unlocking the potential of this growing population. Renewable infrastructure and productive use solutions are our best bet for delivering clean energy pathways out of poverty.

The exhibit shows an example of a productive use café, based on the story of one of Koolboks’ customers. The solar refrigerator becomes a tool for building a micro-enterprise business and helps increase income from the business by offering products that people are willing to pay more for. Other solar powered appliances enhance the experience (light and fans).

Acumen is creating an alliance to raise $250 million that will bring energy access to 81 million people in the hardest to reach markets. The exhibit shows the power of light and the markets that will be left behind socially and economically in the next decade unless Acumen and our partners take action to bring energy access to these markets.

Ethiochicken was a successful business model that started in Ethiopia and was able to reach 2.8 Million smallholder farmers, increasing their incomes and improving the childhood nutrition of the farmers’ family because of the eggs that the chickens produced.   This model has now been supported by ARAF (Acumen’s Resilient Agriculture Fund) to support taking the successful business model to Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.  In 2022 ARAF further funded Flow Equities (the holding company for both organizations) to take this model to 5 additional African markets.  

This exhibit includes a data visualization of the scaling of the model and a photo story that explains how Ethiochicken and Uzima are able to achieve such widespread impact.

Azahar, is one of Acumen’s Latin American investments.  Azahar is focused on ensuring farmers’ profitability by establishing direct relationships with both rural coffee farmers and roasters. Azahar commits to purchasing green coffee beans from rural growers in Colombia’s post-conflict areas at fixed premium prices, typically 50-70% above local going market rate.

In 2020 Azahar created a Sustainable Coffee Buyers guide for the coffee industry, highlighting the impact of standardized pricing on farmers in poverty.  The guide highlighted the need for supply chain transparency and pricing that reflects the cost of growing in different regions.  In 2022 Azahar wants to launch the idea of Prosperity Priced coffee that is priced so that coffee farmers and their workers can have prosperous lives.

The exhibit will include Azahar sourced coffee, roasted and poured by Parlor. The price on the menu above the coffeeshop shows the prosperous price. The exhibit also showcases the definitions of different pricing that is outlined in the buyers guide.

We have worked with our partners at Kheyti in India to bring a scale version of a Kheyti Greenhouse to the exhibit.  Kheyti provides modular greenhouses and drip irrigation systems to smallholder farmers.   In the Greenhouse is a video describing the Kheyti business model, the protections that greenhouse offers to environmental challenges and the types of products that are grown.

The “Greenhouse-in-a-box” fits within 2% of their land and costs 10% of regular greenhouses. Impact includes up to 7X productivity increase and 90% reduction in water consumption.  Each greenhouse also comes with end-to-end support services that help to almost double farmers’ incomes.

Getting farmers started on a path to productivity and prosperity. SunCulture’s pay-as-you-go, off-grid solar pumps and irrigation systems enable smallholder farmers to take control of their environment.

A combination of product, consultation, installation, training, and ongoing customer support increases crop yields by 300% and reduces water usage by 80%.

The exhibit has a solar irrigation pump on display and a customer photo story to show the benefits of the solar pump. 

SunCulture is an ARAF (Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund) investment.

Not everything in agriculture is about helping the smallholder farmer. Sometimes a new product or services can create a whole new business model. S4S is a great example of this. S4S solar dryers are a product to dry food so that they last longer, easier to transport and handle and can be sold at a higher price. S4S has created a new business model with 100% female entrepreneurs who source fruits, vegetables and spices that might otherwise go to waste, because they look ugly but are still equally nutritious. These female entrepreneurs process these unpopular foods with the dryers and through a central distribution center, sell the dry foods at a higher price to larger buyers. This business model benefits the smallholder farmer who get paid for these products and the female entrepreneurs who dry and package the foods.

The exhibit we’ve created shows a small solar drier and some of the food items that have been created that can be sold in a marketplace.

Akili Network is a TV network that sources, creates and broadcasts educational content in Kenya. In Kenya the government passed a law that required all broadcasters in the country had to broadcast at least 5 hours of educational content a week. Most broadcasters found it easier and cheaper to pay the fines than deliver the content. In just two years Akili has since become the number one network for children in Kenya and the number two network for parents with children.

Samaritan is a digital platform that provides people without a home the social and financial support needed to reach health and housing goals. The platform engages difficult to reach populations; helps them set goals; and provides the capital, incentives, and social support needed to reach these goals.

Everytable is on a mission to redefine the food landscape the same way McDonald’s did fifty years ago. But instead of burgers and fries, Everytable will be selling nutritious, fresh, made-from-scratch food, at fast-food prices. Since Acumen America’s first investment, Everytable has expanded to include the “smart fridge” that can replace traditional vending machines. They are expanding from their original 7 stores in LA to 53 stores nationally – including 6 planned for New York City.