Kenyan Entrepreneur Faith Koki Wins Bayer Award for Silo Africa's Game-Changing Post-Harvest Solution
Faith Koki, a Kenyan social entrepreneur, has been recognised with the Bayer Foundation Women Empowerment Award for her innovative work with Silo Africa. Her organisation is transforming the way smallholder farmers store, trade, and profit from their crops, while also tackling a significant post-harvest loss issue that plagues Kenya and Africa as a whole.
In Kenya, nearly half of crops are lost to pests and diseases within weeks of harvest. This annual loss amounts to $720 million, keeping smallholder families trapped in poverty. Faith Koki founded Silo Africa to address this critical challenge. Her organisation's flagship product, SmartSiloTM, is a solar-powered, airtight system that uses sensors to track moisture, temperature, carbon dioxide, and stock levels in real time. This innovation alerts farmers to early signs of spoilage, enabling them to take proactive measures.
Developed by the Fraunhofer Institute under the leadership of Dr. Thomas Bauernhansl, SmartSiloTM eliminates the need for chemical preservatives. It costs between $800 and $1,200 to produce, but Silo Africa offers flexible financing options to make it more affordable for smallholder farmers. To date, Silo Africa has reached more than 3,200 households and empowered 4,260 women. The organisation's Kuza Trading Hub links smallholders directly to premium offtakers with transparent contracts and fair pricing, further boosting farmers' incomes.
Faith Koki's innovative approach to post-harvest management and fair trade is not only empowering smallholder farmers but also significantly reducing food waste. With the Bayer Foundation Women Empowerment Award, she gains recognition for her efforts, which could inspire more support and expansion for Silo Africa's life-changing work. Across Africa, where over 40% of all harvested grain is lost annually, worth more than $4 billion, Koki's solution offers a beacon of hope.
