MARKUP is proud to spotlight women on this IWD 2023. Recognising the barriers that women in the East African region still face in accessing export market opportunities, we take the extra step to ensure equity in representation in MARKUP activities. Over the years, we have seen an increasing number...

The availability of quality seeds can make the difference between success and failure in the production and marketing of coffee and cocoa. This is common knowledge in Uganda: research findings revealed that the ten Robusta Coffee Wilt Disease-resistant varieties planted in Uganda saved the coffee...

Avocado farming and trading have seen exponential growth in Tanzania in the last few years. But there are many challenges that the sector is grappling with: prices are fluctuating, diseases are hard to control, and there is no approved government body in Tanzania to handle avocado as there is for...

When Mukeshimana Liberata started growing onions commercially a year ago, she did not know that this was going to be her big chance to improve her livelihood and realise some of her dreams. Before joining a farmers’ group supported by the MARKUP Horticulture Value Chain (HVC) Project, the 50-year-old...

How do you get young educated young people interested in agriculture? This is the question that the MARKUP team in Kenya was grappling with. The opportunities to improve export and add value to a wide range of fruits and vegetables were fairly well known among farmers in the country, but most of them...

While Burundi can produce some of the best quality tea, coffee and horticulture in the East African Community, problems with consistency and low social and environmental standards are hindering industry expansion and Burundi’s ability to access premium international markets. Quality challenges have...

Easy access to information on the requirements and costs of importing and exporting goods goes a long way in simplifying international trade. Trade Information Portals (TIP) have become a useful tool especially for new exporters. By 2018, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda all had national TIPs. Through...

Food and cosmetics are among the most widely traded products in the East African region. Due to their impact on the health of consumers, these products are highly regulated by all the Partner States. It is a challenge that each Partner State has different criteria, requirements and responsible institutions,...

Q & A with Agnes Mukamushinja Agnes Mukamushinja is a trained nurse and a motivated and inspiring entrepreneur, founder and owner of Nova Coffee Washing Station based in Rwanda. She had been running a pharmacy called ‘Pharmacie Nova’ in Kigali together with her husband Felix, and the couple only...

MARKUP has supported two enterprising young women to realise their dream of breaking into the international market for specialty organic tea.Caroline Chepkemboi and Collins K. Sainna are founders of Eldo Tea Enterprises Limited, a social enterprise working with a community of smallholder farmers in...

A common thread running through MARKUP activities is how to connect farmers in East Africa to market opportunities in the EU and beyond. In Kenya, one of the strategies employed is to strengthen the linkages between farmers and exporters and equipping local governments to provide the necessary support....

Halisi Organic Farm in Tanzania has teamed up with MARKUP to promote its organic product standards and ensure access to markets within Tanzania and beyond. Located in Moshi Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Halisi Organic Farm grows and packages all kinds of herbs. ‘We grow and pack all kinds of herbs. We also...