Recently, during the first ever World Trade Week in the UK, the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), launched the Food Retail Industry Challenge Fund (FRICH), an initiative designed to get more African products into UK markets. FRICH, co-funded by the UK Government and various UK retailers, offers subsidies to the private sector in the UK to develop business models that benefit African farmers by integrating them into the food supply chain that puts goods on UK shelves.

The challenge fund issues grants for specific projects taken on by UK retailers that develop methods to increase demand for food products produced in Africa. These projects must involve UK imports of food products from Africa and, to receive funding, grantees must match or exceed the value of the grant with their own investment. They must also demonstrate that their projects will benefit the market for African food exports, either through commercial promotion or with added income and employment for African farmers.

Trade is an essential tool for economic development and often relies on access to wealthy, developed-country markets, such as the UK. Accessing these markets is difficult for developing countries for a variety of reasons, including lack of capacity and marketing knowledge. FRICH aims to cultivate partnerships between the public and private sectors to overcome these barriers.

Almost 75% of all UK consumers want to use their shopping to contribute to poverty-reduction, according to DFID, yet only 3% of total household food spending is actually used to buy products manufactured in developing countries. FRICH aims to bridge this gap and to encourage UK businesses to take risks to develop new strategies that benefit African producers. Commercial operators with ideas that might have been seen previously as too risky to undertake can now apply for funding from FRICH. Adopting innovations, such as new technologies, links with suppliers in unexplored country markets, new crops and products, alternative distribution channels, and creative marketing, can help otherwise constrained businesses to develop and broaden partnerships with African producers.

The first round of FRICH funding has just been granted to six companies:

• Blue Skies: launching premium-quality fruit juices from Ghana.
• Waitrose LEAF: developing greener farming systems for African growers to produce environmentally-sustainable fruit and vegetables.
• The Co-Operative Group and Finlays Beverages: launching tea from cooperatives set up as a result of a partnership between Kenyan farmers and UK manufacturers in Kenya, as well as focusing on diversifying crops to reduce dependence on tea production.
• Sainsbury’s: launching, developing, and promoting coffees from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Betty’s and Taylors of Harrogate: upgrading quality and ethical practices of tea producers in Rwanda
• Cafédirect: launching a new range of teas and cocoa from Kenya, Rwanda, Sao Tome, Uganda, and Tanzania.

At the launch of FRICH, Minister for Trade and Development Gareth Thomas explained that, “Seven out of ten Africans depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, and the ability to trade with a large UK retailer will make a big difference to farmers across the continent.” The FRICH initiative highlights the importance of integrating African products into global markets and making Africa a viable partner in world-wide trade.

-Pooja Gupta