Private sector actors are central to SIANI’s work and key drivers of food system transformation. In particular, the bioeconomy offers plenty of opportunities for sustainability, livelihoods and economic growth, but the potential is yet to be fully seized. Through its network and expert groups, SIANI has fostered engagement in the bioeconomy sector with smallholders and agripreneurs in Eastern Africa. As a result, researchers at the Stockholm Environment Institute in Nairobi and Stockholm are now collaborating on a new research project on biobusiness opportunities in the bioeconomy for Swedish and Kenyan businesses.
SIANI boosted engagement and networking in the East African bioeconomy
What is the bioeconomy?
- The bioeconomy focuses on the optimised use of renewable biological resources from land and sea, such as crops, forests and animals, to produce food, materials and energy.
- It has the potential to contribute to sustainable development as it reduces reliance on fossil fuels, decreases greenhouse gas emissions and promotes sustainability.
- Innovation, public-private partnerships, including smallholder farmers, agripreneurs and impact investors, as well as promotive policies and successful integration between the different sectors in the bioeconomy, are important components in the creation of a sustainable bioeconomy that can promote long-term sustainability goals.
The bioeconomy harnesses biological processes, resources and knowledge to create goods and services for sustainability, livelihoods and economic growth. It offers multiple opportunities for rural livelihoods, sustainable economic growth, job creation, well-being and health, food security and environmental protection. The potential is significant, especially in Africa, where rich natural resources such as agricultural products, forestry, and marine ecosystems can strongly contribute to the bioeconomy. Recognising this, the East African Community (EAC) recently developed the EAC Regional Bioeconomy Strategy which emphasises innovation, bioresource value addition, job creation, private sector engagement and the key enabling factors propelling bioeconomy development in the region.
Increasing and optimising value addition for smallholders
However, several challenges hinder progress in the region, such as inadequate infrastructure, poor connection between farmers and agricultural processing actors , low agricultural productivity and financial constraints. In Africa in particular, less that 10% of primary agriculture production has some kind of value addition, and many smallholder farmers struggle to access to markets and value chains. The low level of value addition is one of the main reasons for the high rate of post-harvest losses in Africa. A primary objective in an African bioeconomy is therefore to increase and optimise value addition to primary agriculture produce and biowaste connection smallholder farmers to value chains and markets.
“Investments in the African bioeconomy may lead to job creation, new market opportunities, strengthening productivity, environmental protection and improve smallholder farmers’ health – a win-win-win situation,” explains Ivar Virgin, Senior research Fellow at SEI who has worked with the bioeconomy in East Africa for over 30 years.
Networks a key to successful investments in the bioeconomy
To reap potential benefits of the bioeconomy, smallholder farmers must be able to link their production to new markets and business opportunities. Knowledge sharing, education and networking across sectors are therefore critical aspects of developing a sustainable bioeconomy. SIANI, together with AgriFoSe, has contributed to this work through its expert groups, building on the long engagement of SEI researchers in the bioeconomy since the 1990s.
In 2024-2025, SIANI supports the expert group Agrobiologicals in East Africa. The group is focusing on the use of agrobiologicals, a diverse group of products derived from naturally occurring microorganisms, plant extracts, beneficial insects or other organic matter that can lead to increased plant growth, control of plant diseases and improvement of soil health. The aim of the expert group is to catalyse the production and use of biobased agricultural inputs and make them widely available for smallholder farmers in Eastern Africa.
Increasing smallholder farmers’ productivity is critical, yet In Africa, the use of fertilisers among smallholders is only 15 percent of the global average. Biobased fertilisers and pest control could improve productivity, but access remains a major barrier. SIANI’s expert group has supported and stimulated increased production and use of agrobiologicals through a regional dialogue platform, workshops and national stakeholder meetings, where efforts have been made to include private sector actors that could contribute to this development. Ivar Virgin is also part of the group’s work and has already seen positive outcomes:
“Through this expert group, SIANI has played a crucial role for mapping the opportunities to develop and produce biobased inputs, improving agricultural productivity, sustainability and creating jobs in an emerging East African agrobiologicals sector.”
SIANI initiated new research on potential for Swedish-Kenyan business collaboration
Beyond funding the expert group on agrobiologicals, SIANI’s network has also fostered new research collaborations focusing on private sector engagement in the bioeconomy. In November 2023, SIANI and AgriFoSe held a regional network meeting that accommodated an exhibition for agripreneurs adding value to various traditional crops in East Africa. The event showcased their importance and the demand for their products, and it was well received by the World Food Programme as well as the Swedish Embassy in Kenya.
As a result, SIANI produced a concept note for Sida highlighting the opportunity of the bioeconomy to smallholder farmers in East Africa. This resulted in a research project “Advancing the Bioeconomy in Kenya” in 2024-2025, led by SEI Africa and financed by Sida. The project sets off in private sector engagement and how Swedish private actors can invest and collaborate with agripreneurs, biobased businesses and smallholder farmers in Kenya. It aims to map and develop platforms for bioeconomy advancement in East Africa, with an emphasis on Swedish and Kenyan business opportunities.
Knowledge-sharing can minimise potential conflicts between various goals in the future
Looking ahead, SIANI can continue to play an important role in bioeconomy projects as a facilitator, catalyser and network hub. “Knowledge-based development that supports the bioeconomy development in line with the SDGs is crucial,” Ivar mentions. “There will be trade-offs and conflicts when it comes to bioresource use and bioeconomy advancement in Africa, and a network like SIANI can connect different actors, creating shared knowledge and potentially turn conflicts into win-win solutions. SIANI has done this already, and there is space to do it even more in the future,” Ivar says.