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SME ACCELERATOR PROGRAM: MR EVANCE OBARA – FOUNDER, GEM GRAIN AMARANTH MILLERS
- Published On: 2023-04-27
My name is Mr. Evance Obara, 30, the Founder of Gem Grain Amaranth Millers, a Kenyan-registered company based in Maranda, Siaya County, focusing on the value addition of Amaranth, Finger Millet and Sorghum to produce Porridge flour. The business started in the year 2017 but was formally registered in 2020 September.
The company initially started off in Gem, Siaya County but has recently moved to Maranda Centre. The business started off as a three persons management team but has now formed a joint venture with Bondo Amaranth Farmers and Marketing, to form a Community-Based Organization, Siaya Amaranth Processors with now a management team of 15 people. This was done to help them mediate the raw materials challenge they were facing as an entity individually and also provide Bondo Farmers with a market for their produce.
In 2022, Evance participated in Access to Markets cohort under the SME Accelerator Program organized by Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) through the support of the Embassy of Ireland. As a result of his participation, Evance was able to identify the main challenge his business was facing that is, the lack of raw materials, which almost killed the business as he had identified farmers and provided them with seedlings but the farmers did not supply the produce to him. Consequently, the training and mentorship were able to help identify a solution through the creation of a partnership with another entity that would help bring his business back up as the partner was able to ensure the right farmers were identified to supply the products to be used as raw materials. Further, he is also now able to analyse customer expectations and market his products digitally.
From the partnership, the number of farmers reached currently is over 400 where Gem Grain Millers had a membership of 123 farmers while Bondo Amaranth had over 265 farmers before coming together. This has also led to an increase in the number of staff from 5 to 15 people.
His key takeaway was the importance of continuous improvement for both staff and business, which has resulted to increase of business profit margin by 15%.
Follow Evance Obara on: Facebook - Siaya Amaranth Processors
Twitter - @SAPCO1222023