The policy brief presents the Nutritious Foods Financing Facility (N3F), an innovative blended finance initiative designed to support food systems transformation in sub-Saharan Africa by investing in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that provide safe, nutritious, and affordable foods to lower-income populations. Launched in 2023, the N3F combines debt financing, technical assistance, and impact monitoring to strengthen nutritious food value chains while promoting nutrition, gender equity, environmental sustainability, and economic resilience. The article highlights the role of SMEs as critical actors in Africa’s food systems, despite facing chronic underinvestment and limited access to finance. Through investments in companies involved in fortified flour production, fish distribution, cold-chain logistics, poultry production, and legume supply chains across Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, and Zambia, the facility demonstrates how nutrition-focused businesses can simultaneously deliver health, livelihood, environmental, and gender-related benefits. The brief also emphasizes the importance of technical assistance for improving food safety, business efficiency, supply chain resilience, and nutrition impact.
Resource type:
Peer review