Innovation does not have to be the creation of a new machine or tech-based. It can be the conversion of a product to another to ease access to it. This is the type of innovation done by Eric Muthomi.
The Kenyan is the founder of “Stawi Fund and Fruits”, a start-up that provides bananas from small-scale farmers in rural Kenya.
Muthomi gets bananas from remote corners of the country, and then turns them to flour which can be used to make a variety of foods.
Muthomi holds a law degree from the Catholic University of East Africa and received training on the banana industry at the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute. He is driven to create wealth for everyone involved in the value chain: from the consumer to the farmer to his business. Hence the name “Stawi”, Swahili for “prosperity”.
Stawi produces high quality banana flour that meet the expectations of the market, growing a base of satisfied customers: the farmers and the consumers. Apart from access to quality, consumers are better able to eat healthy. Healthy eating is an integral part of everyone’s general wellbeing. Muthomi guarantees reliability and absolute property in the entire process of transformation and also the final product.
Apart from that, it’s a serious push for agricultural production. Faced with various difficulties including distance that does not guarantee loyal customers, producers find in Stawi Fund and Fruits a sign of relief. Hence, its success among other competitors who evolve in other countries of the sub-region.
Source: HowAfrica