Business profiling and nutrition assessment of agrifood small and medium-sized enterprises in Ethiopia, Malawi and Mali

Abstract

This report presents the findings of an analysis of the business profiling information and capacity gaps of agrifood small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and enterprise support organizations (ESOs) across Ethiopia, Malawi and Mali. The data collected and the analysis provide valuable insights to policymakers and practitioners on the capacity and learning gaps to be addressed and on the challenges that SMEs and ESOs face in the targeted countries. The results showed that most of these enterprises are micro-enterprises, almost half are managed by women, and they develop a diversified portfolio of activities including production, processing, and retailing mostly in grain value chains. Most agrifood SMEs mentioned the following as their primary business challenges: limited access to finance, input costs and infrastructure development.