Grace Life Foundation where fintech meets philanthropy by Valentine Muhamba
Grace Life Foundation (GLF) is a social impact organisation that was established in 2018. The initiative was founded by Brian Munyawarara, the CEO of Raysun Capital, a fintech and credit platform for transport operators.
Now, I was a little puzzled at how the CEO of a fintech firm got involved in philanthropic work. That’s not to say that something like this is entirely new but in Zimbabwe (and in my experience) it’s pretty rare, particularly for a 28-year-old executive.
“I feel that as a generation we have to play a part in shaping the future we hope to see. My profit generating businesses exist to be able to fund the philanthropic work that we do.
Brian Munyawarara, Founder of Grace Life Foundation.
Luckily, Grace Life Foundation had a Fundraising Gala last week Friday and I got some answers from Brian himself. The event was held to celebrate the five years that Grace Life Foundation has been in existence, all it has achieved in the last half-decade and highlight the three simple pillars that have kept it going for this long.
“We have three pillars that we work with, education, health and food security. The foundation has been working in Harare and the peri-urban areas surrounding the capital“
Brian Munyawarara, Founder of Grace Life Foundation.
Feed a soul
The first pillar according to GLF will aim to provide 200,000 households with balanced meals by 2025. They are doing this through greenhouse farming initiatives in partnership with local communities.
“This provides a transfer of skills by training locals and as GLF, we take the products to market for the community and assist with further solutions to alleviate any other hardships“
GLF
GLF has a program like this running with Chinyaradzo Children’s Home in Highfields Harare.
Educate a soul
“Under this program we have been assisting vulnerable children who can’t afford a basic education due to many different reasons. We have been awarding scholarships to children who we also assist with other training and life skills to increase their chances of success going forward.”
GLF
Through GLF’s Education program they have been able to educate 100 students. And this year, one of the beneficiaries of the program graduated from MSU with a degree in banking and finance.
The foundation has high ambitions because it wants to increase its beneficiaries to 1,000 by 2025.
Care for a soul
The last pillar that Grace Life Foundation has is its health program which it says is providing necessary health support in the communities it operates.
“Our objective is to partner with local clinics in the provision of sufficient primary care for beneficiaries. We are currently developing mechanisms that will ensure consistent access to healthcare and that beneficiaries are in a position to be assisted”
GLF
What about the rest of Zimbabwe?
Zimbabwe is a very big country with a lot of needs and issues so why just Harare and the surrounding areas? Well, according to Brian Munyawarara, they are concentrating the resources they have to make the most impact.
“When you are doing philanthropic work you need to be targetted to be impactful. So what we did, especially with education, is we went to the Ministry of Education and we asked them on which particular areas they would recommend for us to assist”
“The Permanent Secretary wrote to us and gave us recommendations and that was an entry point for us. But now as we were doing the work, we realised that its such a huge area that we need to be mindful of in order to properly address as may issues as we can”
But he went on to say that the next five years is when they are looking to expand Grace Life Foundations’ scope of operations.
That expansion will be aided by GLF’s partners including companies like Old Mutual and many others…
Rising Food Prices Threaten Global Food Security
In the weeks since Russia first invaded Ukraine, food prices have reached record highs, threatening to exacerbate global food insecurity. Food prices in March reached levels 29 percent higher than this time last year, according to the U.N. from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Food Price Index. And while April saw a dip in prices, Maximo Torero, Chief Economist for the FAO, says that values are still “extremely high.”
“I don’t think the problem of food availability is today,” Torero tells Food Tank, explaining that there are not yet food shortages. “The problem today is food access.” If the situation does not improve, however, the world may face shortages of food in the next year. In an extreme scenario, FAO modeling predicts that 30 percent of the world’s cereal exports could disappear and restricted access to fertilizer will result in lower yields. This will not only reduce the availability of food, but also raise food prices, pushing levels of food insecurity and chronic undernourishment even higher. “Let’s hope that scenario doesn’t happen,” Torero tells Food Tank, “but we have simulated the scenario.” Torero explains that reliance on a small handful of food exporters has put important-dependent countries in a vulnerable state. Roughly 50 countries depend on 30 percent of wheat and maize from Russia and Ukraine. Of these countries, almost 30 rely on Russia and Ukraine for more than 50 percent of these grain exports.
“Things need to change,” Torero tells Food Tank. “Countries need to understand that they need to diversify.” The threat of export restrictions from countries also risks worsening the situation. He calls on leaders to “understand the importance of solidarity” and continue to facilitate trade. “Of course, there are countries that are worried about their own food security, and that’s completely understandable,” Torero says. “But we have to try to find ways in which trade continues to happen because right now it’s essential until markets can come down a little bit.” In addition to recommending that trade operates as usual, the FAO is exploring options that can cover the rising costs of food imports for particularly vulnerable countries. Torero explains that it is possible to cover the gap in price between the higher cost of this year’s food imports and the cost of last year’s. Not only will this help to ensure food access, but he says, it will hopefully “minimize the risk of social unrest.” Listen to the full conversation with Maximo Torero on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to hear more about projections for the rise in acute hunger, why rising fertilizer prices matter for food security, and what resilience looks like in the face of future global shocks.
SME Survey: Rising Prices, Increased Cost Of Inputs, and Lack of Finance Raise Danger for Global Food Systems
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s global food price index might have stopped increasing in recent weeks, but it remains 23 percent above its value a year ago, driven by large year-on-year increases in the prices of cereals and vegetable oil, as well as dairy products. Meanwhile, agricultural input prices, such as energy, feed, and fertilizer, have also been rising at rates even higher than food prices..
Severe challenges for small businesses
Weathering these peaks and volatility is challenging for rich countries and large corporations. But it’s much harder in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), for the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which make up the bulk of the food system. A recent online survey by The Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network, which is convened by the World Food Programme (WFP) and GAIN, ran a survey to find out what they’re facing and how they are coping. Well over 200 owners and/or managers of food system SMEs in 12 countries in Africa and Asia provided their feedback. Over a third of responses came from women-owned businesses and a further 30 percent from youth-owned businesses. From the responses, it is abundantly clear that SMEs are feeling the pressure. 79 percent reported that high or volatile prices were a current challenge for their business, with about a third ranking this as their main challenge. Nearly one fifth said high prices were having such a severe impact on their business that it risked closure. And firms led by women and young people were particularly likely to cite rising prices as a top contextual challenge. Most firms estimated that prices for their inputs had increased by over 30 percent in the past six months. About two-thirds of firms also reported changes to input availability since the start of 2022, with 68 percent of them reporting a decrease in availability. These are big problems, but they are exacerbated by an even bigger, and near-perennial, one: most respondents said their biggest issue was either difficulty accessing financing or limited financial reserves.
How can SMEs adapt?
The main strategy firms used to respond to input price increases amid limited access to financing was raising sales prices: 71 percent of respondents had changed their prices in the past six months, typically increasing them. Others cited strategies such as cutting staffing and reducing product sizes. However, some firms are also finding innovative ways to respond that could increase their long-term resilience, such as by strengthening local supply chains and switching to renewable energy sources, helping them avoid some of the volatility of global supply chains. Encouragingly, many firms also saw opportunities, with about half wishing to explore new business areas. For example, an egg producer in Kenya planned to set up his own feed mill. And nearly two-thirds said actions they had taken as a result of COVID-19, such as adapting products, changing distribution methods, and adopting online sales, had helped them to cope with the current situation. However, reduced product availability and rising input prices, combined with limited access to finance, still represent an acute challenge. And it gets worse when you consider the context of poor economic growth, climate change, local conflict and political instability, all on the back of the massive shock of COVID-19. This creates a vicious circle. For example, two chicken farmers in Mozambique explained how, even before the pandemic, they had lost clients and sales due to conflict in the north of the country. They now can’t increase prices because they’ll lose what remains of their business and they are, therefore, having to operate on the very edge of profitability. Building global food systems resilience None of these challenges, unfortunately, are going to go away soon. Instead, we must find ways to mitigate the negative impacts on SMEs and facilitate the opportunities that emerge for them, thereby buffering the impacts on the consumers who rely on them for nutritious food. There are remedies available. One is increasing financing options for SMEs, in both the short and long terms. We can also encourage governments to use fiscal policies, such as time-limited tax exemptions or reductions in interest and utility payments, to reduce the pressure on SME finances. At the global level, ensuring the free flow of food and inputs, including to the poorest countries and into and out of conflict areas, will be essential to stem the tide of rising prices. It is vital we act now to bolster food systems resilience, supporting small businesses and those in lower-income countries who depend on them for much-needed food.
Zimbabwean Rise Winners’ Reflections from First Ever Rise Residential Winner Summit in Cape Town
The Rise Residential Winner Summit was a fully-funded, three-week residential summit with other members of the Rise Global Winner cohort. This years summit was held in Cape Town where the winners got to explore the city, the history, learn from one another, and share their lives with each other. We asked each of the 3 winners to share some of their highlights from the summit and their responses can be found below.
Nyasha Makaya
I would say that my experience was a transformative transition. On arrival I was a nervous little boy with a lot of questions and confusion, who did not know how to fit into such a diverse society with people from more than 42 countries. Although it took me almost a week to adapt to the changes, I finally integrated perfectly into the society of changemakers. With a series of intense and relaxed sessions, talks l, presentations and activities, I found my skill set in the field of making change and impacting the society expanding at an accelerated rate. One of the things I liked most about the summit is that we got to implement and map the things that we were learning in theory to what is really happening in the world, and this we achieved by visiting a couple of organizations, people and societies, and asking them questions about whatever it is that they do, why they do it, how they do it, and the impact they are having on society. This model of system’s thinking which incorporates the reason why a certain system exists, the structures supporting it, the trends that come about with it, etc., I would say was one of the most important skills I gained from the summit. Trips to Robbin Islands and the University of Cape Town also served to maximize the experience. I also enjoyed the leisure days during which I had the chance to go snorkeling, surfing, paddling, among other things. In short, I really enjoyed the whole three week experience from interacting with fellow winners to the lessons that we attended.
Natalie Mbonjani
I would say that my Cape Town experience was out of this world. Starting from the day I arrived, I was already appreciating the beauty of the campus grounds upon which the summit was being hosted, the Vineyard Hotel. As the summit progressed, I was able to interact and converse with many of my fellow rise winners, and hearing their different stories, experiences and backgrounds was just magical and inspiring. I eventually ended up making some deep connections with some of the winners. The sessions that we had, were they talks from outside speakers, presentations from my fellow winners, discussions with professors, presentations from our facilitators, activities, etc., were all instrumental in deepening my understanding of making meaningful change in society and changing systems. They really shifted my perspective of what I thought of change making and problem solving. We also had visits to people and organisations so as to fully understand and implement the models and ideas we were being taught in theory. I also liked the recreational activities that we engaged in. I had the privilege to go on the Peninsula tour, on which we visited the Cape point, the Cape of Good Hope, and we went penguin paddling. It was so much fun. I enjoyed the trips we had to the city centre, Robbin Islands and Mandela’s house in a bid to try and understand the system of apartheid in colonial south Africa from its roots. Overall, I would say my Cape Town experience was a once-in-a-life-time achievement.
Tegra Ilunga
The Rise 2022 summit in Cape Town was an exciting and breathtaking experience. Most importantly, the Rise RAs, Team members and Facilitators were more welcoming and provided the most security and comfort zone such that the summit felt like home. I got to meet like-minded children who are aspiring young global change makers who are doing amazing works for their communities from the different corners of the world. The most quality time I spent was going through individual Rise Winner’s profiles learning about their wonderful projects and looking into how I could work on some to better my community. The winner’s lightning talks, and the one-on-one approach were mediums through which I could learn individual projects in-depth. Something that counted for me was exercising my diversity in languages mainly Swahili and French with winners who spoke either of those languages. It was an honor getting to know the history of South Africa in-depth, going to Robben Island and getting much insight on Apartheid. We learnt the value of teamwork through the Base group and Theme group activities. This increased the connections in our network of incredible amazing young people. The academic information was more insightful especially those from the World-renowned experts in the Schmidt Futures network hosted by Rise and the visits to University of Cape Town. All in all, the Rise 2022 summit was a memorable experience in a lifetime!