We focus on catalysing the development of key sectors in East Africa with the potential to benefit large numbers of people. We work with governments and the private sector to tackle the constraints along the whole value chain that are holding sectors back.
Gatsby previously primarily supported agricultural research and dissemination in Africa. Our experience showed that often developing improved crop varieties was not enough to truly impact the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, who face multiple additional challenges, including poor access to finance, little advice on crop management, low-quality transport infrastructure, and undeveloped markets.
Efforts to tackle each challenge individually are undermined if the others remain, therefore we have adopted a sector approach, identifying and addressing the constraints along the whole value-chain - from field to market - that are holding sectors back.
We work in sectors that fulfil three basic criteria: they must be competitive and have growth potential; they must impact large numbers of people; and they must be conducive to change.
The last is particularly important, and means we work in sectors where there is existing private sector momentum, and where the government will offer political support and tackle vested interests to create the right environment for growth.
Our approach to sector development is continually evolving and varies depending on the sector. However, there are common characteristics across our programmes:
- We have political support – We work where we are welcome. Our programmes are mostly based on an initial discussion and agreement with presidents or senior ministers.
- We work with legitimate institutions – Public institutions can play a critical role in ensuring sectors have the necessary regulatory frameworks and public goods provision that incentivise private sector investment and improve competitiveness. Where appropriate, we work with them to achieve this and ensure local ownership. We also look to build the capacity of these institutions to monitor and manage the sector, ensuring they can tackle any new constraints that arise and that the sector’s progress is sustained long after our involvement ends.
- We seek to be market-focused – We believe the private sector is the engine room of growth. We base our work on understanding the dynamics of the market and commercial realities through dialogue and partnerships with the private sector.
- We strive to be analytical – We undertake research to ensure stakeholders have good data that allows them to make sensible decisions. We also monitor and evaluate our interventions, both to see whether it is necessary to change course and to inform future programmes.
- We remain flexible – We do not come with pre-defined template solutions, instead working in whatever way will best address the issues and constraints that are important in a particular sector. This flexible approach also allows us to plan the timing of our interventions to best build the momentum needed to take a sector forward, and to respond to changing circumstances, both politically and within markets.
- We understand the need to be patient and pragmatic – We recognise that governments have to live within budgetary constraints and political realities, and private sector players face numerous commercial pressures. It is therefore necessary to work within the possible rather than pretend such issues do not exist.
We have launched full sector development programmes in the Tanzanian cotton sector, the Tanzanian tea sector and the Rwandan tea sector, and are supporting two Gatsby-founded local institutions as they focus on sector development.
We are now looking to launch other programmes across the region, both by analysing new sectors and by restructuring previous projects around a sector approach.
Featured projects
We are working with local institutions to transform Tanzania’s cotton and textiles sector by raising the yields of more than 400,000 smallholders and catalysing downstream industries through a range of activities aimed at the sector’s key constraints.
We are building the Tanzanian tea sector in partnership with the Wood Family Trust, government bodies and the private sector. The Chai Project aims to expand tea cultivation, increase productivity, improve quality and boost returns to smallholders.
We have expanded our partnership with the Wood Family Trust in tea sector development to Rwanda. The Imbarutso Project is working with the Government, factories and smallholder farmers to address a variety of constraints along the whole value chain.
We are working with local institutions in East Africa as they focus on implementing sector programmes. Kenya Gatsby Trust is building a portfolio of Kenyan sectors, and the Kilimo Trust is focusing on regional agricultural markets.
See more sector development projects