Generation Food: building a food business incubator for a more sustainable and fair food system in Arusha, Tanzania

Published on February 15, 2022

The project goal is to support the transition towards a sustainable and fair food system in Arusha that increases the accessibility of safe and healthy food to all consumers including marginalized groups, generates a fair income for all actors throughout the value chains and reduces the ecological impact on the planet. This is done specifically by setting up a incubator that coaches, supports and encourages young agri-entrepreneurs in bringing about this transition.

Generation Food Arusha is a very concrete and focused initiative that aims to address some of the most critical issues in Arusha’s food system such as post-harvest loss, food safety, poor market linkages, and climate change adaptation through the development of start-ups delivering services towards a sustainable and fair food system. It has the support of key players in Arusha’s food system.

Generation Food focuses specifically on the Arusha Food System which includes the city and its surrounding countryside. It aims to strengthen the connection between producers, citizens (consumers) and businesses in the Greater Arusha.

The core business idea of the young agri-entrepreneurs that take part in the Generation Food incubator initiative primarily contributes to a more sustainable and fair food system. But at the same, we encourage intersectoral approaches that break silo thinking: youth entreprises with linkages to sectors such as transport, energy and health that are inextricably linked to food, are also welcomed. Among the supported youth enterprises, there are quite a few innovative food processing companies that aim to provide nutritious and fresh food to the citizens of Arusha (processing of snacks with pulses, honey with moringa, peanut butter, nutritious flour, etc). Other innovations can be found in the provision of services to farmers (drip irrigation, seed multiplication, soil testing, etc.). In the area of logistics, the project supports an innovative food delivery company that works with electric bicycles.

Through the Generation Food initiative, the young entrepreneurs are coached to include as much as possible principles of a circular economy in their business model and pay attention to economic, social and ecological sustainability. Beyond business incubation, the project also triggers consumers and citizens’ interest for food sustainability and safety and stimulates their critical attitude towards food.

Rikolto who is in charge of the overall coordination of the project is an experienced market system facilitator, delivering sustainable and inclusive outcomes across rural-urban food chains.