Empowering Women and Youth in ESA Grain Trade Launch

On February 28, 2025, AGMARK launched its project at the Villa Rosa Kempinski in Nairobi, marking the start of a new push for structured cross-border grain trade in the ESA region. This high-profile launch event, organized in partnership with AGRA, brought together government officials, regional organizations, cross-border trader associations (CBTAs), and private sector leaders. The primary focus was to empower women and youth by enhancing their participation in the grain trade, creating new opportunities and fostering sustainable economic growth across the region.

This event marked the public debut of a programme that had been carefully developed through the strategic partnership between AGMARK and AGRA to empower women and youth in cross-border grain trade across Eastern and Southern Africa, a collaboration that outlines the vision, target regions, and expected outcomes underpinning all the field work that followed.

Workshop Objectives

The workshop was designed with clear goals in mind:

• Introducing the Project: The project, titled “Empowering Women and Youth to Participate in Structured Cross-Border Grain Trade through CBTAs in ESA Regions”, aims to boost the institutional and trade capacities of CBTAs. This enhancement will support effective participation in grain trade and create new job opportunities.
• Engaging Stakeholders: A key objective was to foster a collaborative environment where governments, regional bodies, and the private sector work together toward a shared vision of an inclusive trade landscape.
• Presenting Key Findings and Recommendations: Insights from the institutional capacity assessment of CBTAs were shared, setting the stage for actionable strategies.
• Officially Launching the Project: The formal project launch was marked by an address from the guest of honor that set the tone for the work ahead.

Workshop Outcomes

The event achieved several critical outcomes:

• Enhanced Awareness and Collaboration: Stakeholders left with a deeper understanding of the project’s goals and the central role of CBTAs in structured grain trade.
• Alignment on Actionable Strategies: There was a unanimous agreement on practical solutions to empower women and youth, ranging from capacity-building initiatives to improved financial inclusion.
• Identification of a Capacity Building Pathway: Priority activities were outlined to ensure that CBTAs are well-equipped to navigate and thrive in cross-border trade environments.

Voices of Leadership

Guest of Honour – Ms. Pamela Betty Awuor

In her address, Ms. Awuor highlighted the indispensable role of structured cross-border grain trade in strengthening economic empowerment and food security. She stressed the need for thorough capacity-building programs, strong policy support, and improved access to financing, all needed to overcome trade barriers. Her call for sustained collaborative partnerships reflected the long-term vision of the project.

Remarks by AGRA – Isaac Gokah

Isaac Gokah reaffirmed AGRA’s commitment to creating inclusive agricultural markets. He pointed out that the project reflects a shared vision of strengthening trade facilitation and building resilient institutional capacities. By empowering small-scale traders, especially women and youth, AGRA aims to open structured markets, reduce trade barriers, and drive sustainable growth in the agricultural sector.

Panel Discussion Highlights

An interactive panel discussion brought together key representatives from entities such as the Kenya Revenue Authority, various farmer organizations, ThriveAgric, and CBTA-Zambia. The discussion covered several pressing issues:

• Policy Harmonization: The need for synchronized policies to streamline cross-border trade processes.
• Financial Inclusion: Strategies to enhance access to credit for small-scale traders.
• Capacity Building: Initiatives to improve business acumen, digital literacy, and market access. Strengthening CBTAs: Enhancing the role of CBTAs as advocates and supporters of their members.

Among the panelists was Ms. Florence Atieno, Chairlady of the Busia Women Cross-Border Traders SACCO in Kenya, a trader whose decades of experience at the Kenya-Uganda border represent exactly the kind of ground-level resilience this programme is designed to support. Her story, and those of the women she leads, are told in Resilient Women Traders at the Busia Border.

From Launch to Action: First Field Activities

The official launch of this project marks a significant step toward transforming agricultural trade in the Eastern and Southern Africa region. By focusing on capacity building and building strategic partnerships, the initiative aims to create inclusive markets, empower women and youth, and drive economic resilience. As the project unfolds, it aims to bridge trade gaps and set a precedent for sustainable, equitable growth in the region.

The field activities that followed the Nairobi launch have already translated this vision into practice across multiple corridors. Along the Tanzania-Zambia border, AGMARK began conducting institutional capacity assessments and CBTA engagements at key border posts as one of the programme’s first on-the-ground activities. On the Malawi-Tanzania corridor, youth traders at the Kasumulu-Songwe border are stepping into leadership roles in structured cross-border grain trade, an early demonstration of how the programme’s focus on the next generation of traders is already taking shape.