Rural Injini (Engine) Inclusive Maize Trading & Processing

The project aimed to support Ugandan smallholder farmers in efficiently aggregat­ing and processing maize for sale to regional wholesalers. Joseph Initiative Ltd. (JI) adopts an integrated approach to trading by com­bining rural collection centres with village buying agents to collect small quantities of maize from remote farmers and provide immediate payment upon collection. JI’s business model focuses on ‘bottom-of-the-pyramid’ farmers producing one metric ton or less per year, as they fall below the aggregation thresholds of commercial traders.

 The investment was designed to support broader farmer inclusion, as well as more efficient aggregation and processing. This is expected to accelerate the achievement of targeted impacts, including more than dou­bling household incomes from maize pro­duction, increasing agricultural productivity by 50%, and reducing production costs by 20%. The inclusion of a large number of produc­ers, combined with these productivity gains and reduced losses, could lead to substantial improvements in Uganda’s food security.

SDGs