Despite its importance as a staple food and climate-resilient crop, Senegal’s millet sector faces challenges of low productivity, limited farmer incomes, and weak market linkages. Grain value chains are highly informal, and farmer groups are dispersed and disorganised. As part of a blended finance structure, a grant from the Smallholder SustaiNability Upscaling Programme (SSNUP) of Luxembourger CSO Appui au développement autonome (ADA) enabled Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER) to engage with both a food processing company and farmer groups, and build capacity that led to increased production, enhanced regularity of cereal supplies and market-building.
From farm to bowl: Improving millet markets with blended finance – Kumba, Senegal
Abstract
In Senegal, the millet sector is critical for food security and nutrition, economic development, resilience and climate adaptation. Millet is a staple crop, especially in rural areas, and is highly valued for its nutritional qualities. It is the one of the most cultivated cereals in the country and it provides income for smallholder farmers and supports local processing industries. Millet is well adapted to Senegal’s Sahelian climate, and as climate change increases drought risk, millet remains a resilient crop and is promoted as part of climate-smart agriculture.
Yet, the millet sector in Senegal faces several structural challenges including i) low productivity due to traditional farming methods, poor soil fertility and climate stress, ii) limited farmer incomes due to low farm-gate prices, high production cost and dependence on subsistence farming by dispersed and disorganised farmers, iii) weak market linkages due to informal and fragmented value chain, limited access to structured markets and weak agro-processing, iv) limited access to finance and inputs due to credit constraints and limited seed and fertiliser availability, as well as v) port-harvest losses due to weak infrastructure.
To address these challenges, as part of the blended finance structure Balim Investments, the international civil society organisation Swiss Church Aid (HEKS/EPER) engaged both a food processing company (Kumba) and farmer groups and built capacity that led to increased production, enhanced regularity of cereals supply and market building.
Free Work Services (Kumba) is a food processing and commercialisation company based in Dakar. It was founded in 1994 with the aim of promoting the consumption of local food products and contributing to food self-sufficiency in Senegal. The company specialises in grain processing from millet and corn (notably arraw, thiacry, sankhal and couscous). It is one of the few formal processors in the country, but it lacks efficient grain processing capacity – leading to important food losses post-harvest and sub-optimal commercial avenues for farmers. Kumba employs 32 workers of which 60% are female.
Balim Investments is a blended finance structure combining capital from impact investors (equity and debt) with grants and donations for technical assistance and first-loss coverage. It was founded in 2021 and is a collaboration between HEKS/EPER, the impact investment firm iGravity, and the Somaha Foundation, all based in Zurich.
In 2022, Balim Investments extended a 5-year loan to Kumba to acquire new processing machinery, refurbish its processing plant and increase its working capital, with the key objectives of increasing production capacity and directly purchasing from smallholder farmers. Since 2022, Kumba has doubled its monthly production rate but continued to face challenges in strengthening ties with farmers' groups and securing the volumes of quality millet it requires, thereby needing to often purchase from traders instead of farmers' groups.
In mid-2024, Balim Investments (through HEKS/EPER) secured a grant from the Smallholder SustaiNability Upscaling Programme (SSNUP) managed by the Luxembourgish NGO Appui au développement autonome (ADA) to provide specialised technical assistance in addition to the loan. This technical assistance had three objectives:
Strengthen the resilience and technical skills of small-scale farmers who are current or potential suppliers of Kumba. The assistance promoted climate-smart agriculture through agroecology while simultaneously improving market relations.
Reinforce the millet value chain in Senegal, helping rural households secure livelihoods through better farming practices and improved commercial partnerships with Kumba.
Support Kumba in strengthening its administrative, accounting, and financial procedures to enhance governance and long-term sustainability.
The technical assistance was coordinated by HEKS/EPER through its local office in Senegal. Between October 2024 and March 2025, a Senegalese consulting firm conducted the consultations and training sessions.
A participatory workshop with both Kumba staff and smallholder farmers (producers) identified urgent capacity needs: knowledge of agroecological practices, soil preparation, organic fertilisation, climate change resilience, seed production, and storage methods that preserve product quality with fewer chemicals. A strong emphasis was also placed on the fight against parasitic weeds (striga) and reducing dependency on chemical inputs. Beyond technical training, administrative efficiency and improved governance structures were considered essential for scaling impact. Capacity-building workshops were designed based on these findings, engaging smallholder farmers in three thematic areas:
1. Agroecological cereal farming to support sustainable production and environmental stewardship.
2. Commercial contracts for cereals to strengthen negotiation capacities and secure market linkages.
3. Post-harvest storage techniques to preserve product quality and reduce losses.
To support organisational performance, Kumba staff received training on administrative management, alongside the installation of a management system. In addition, the sourcing base for the company has been broadened by including four new cooperatives across the regions, expanding outreach and deepening integration into the millet value chain.
The case illustrates how a CSO providing technical assistance within a blended finance structure can reinforce blended finance partnerships. Technical assistance helped strengthen agroecological value chains, enhance food security and increase rural livelihoods in West Africa. By combining concessional loans with technical assistance, the initiative enabled Kumba to modernise processing, secure supply from smallholder farmers and expand consumer markets for nutritious millet-based products.
The loan to Kumba and the technical assistance project has achieved results across several dimensions.
At the organisational level, Kumba and the farmer cooperatives improved transparency and efficiency through new management tools, staff training and improved governance. The integration of four new cooperatives also expanded the producer network and created additional commercial opportunities.
Smallholder farmers were empowered not only as practitioners but also as trainers. They applied new techniques on their own farms and shared them with peers, which amplified the adoption of agroecological practices, contract literacy and storage innovations. Producers gained greater confidence in negotiating fairer contracts, particularly in millet production, which helped protect them against market volatility and enabled households to concentrate on productivity improvements.
These changes translated into livelihood and food security benefits. Improved storage reduced post-harvest losses, raised incomes and stabilised food availability; and farmers adopted practices that conserved live hedges, reduced erosion and enhanced biodiversity. Improvements in soil organic matter increased water retention, making fields less vulnerable to drought, while crop diversification reduced risks from climate shocks, strengthening resilience.
At the national level, stronger producer–buyer contracts and better storage systems improved the regularity of cereals supply, supporting food security priorities in Senegal.
CSOs can function as bridges between communities, private companies and markets, and apply their capacity-building expertise to safeguard inclusion and equity, reduce the risk for investors and focus on long-term sustainability. Donors play an important role in supporting such partnerships by providing finance for technical assistance, supporting institutional strengthening, encouraging multi-stakeholder collaboration and providing flexible, long-term funding.
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