Partners in Food Solutions awarded grant to explore small and medium enterprise data challenges in making business decisions
In May 2018, Partners in Food Solutions was awarded a $30,000 Catalyst grant from the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) to move from impact measurement to impact management; from gathering data to using the information to make key performance decisions for ourselves – and more importantly - for our clients. To achieve this, the grant will begin by exploring how information is used by high-potential Kenya food processors in their day to day operations and demonstrate how to harness the power of their own data to make better informed business decisions.
PFS will work with each client to uncover an operational issue which would be clarified with data – for example, sales performance of a certain product line – and demonstrate appropriate ways in which their information could be analyzed, presented or improved. At the end of this twelve-month cycle, each client will have a report tailored to their specific issue and simple, actionable ideas to put in to practice. PFS will have a better understanding of what business outcomes these processors' desire to track, the challenges clients face in collecting and analyzing their data and how best to set them up to capture this information in the future.
The overall ANDE Catalyst Fund objective is to increase the productivity and effectiveness of ANDE members while creating tools and insights that can help the small-and-growing business sector as a whole. Awards went to organizations that agreed to test measurement tools, frameworks, and analytical approaches, and who are willing to share lessons with ANDE members in order to move impact measurement and management forward. Other winners included: B Lab East Africa & Genesis Analytics, Acumen, Genesis Analytics & Impact Amplifier, CapitalPlus Exchange and Engineers without Borders Canada. This funding round is generously funded by Department for International Development’s (DFID) Impact Programme.