TradeFlow Capital Management enables scalable Carbon abatement in Rwanda

Collaborative carbon credits initiative supports innovative school feeding programme

SINGAPORE, Sept. 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In a first-in-class partnership between Tradeflow Capital Management (TradeFlow), The FarmFresh Food Company Ltd (FarmFresh) and Heads of Schools Organisation Rwanda (HOSO), a partnership monetising 298mt of CO₂e averted over the Rwandan school year September 2022 to August 2023 has been realised,  during which FarmFresh supplied 119mt of cooked beans into schools in Kigali, equivalent to ~790,000 school meal servings of beans.

Using industry accepted tried-and-tested emissions reduction verification approaches and models, FarmFresh worked closely with Tradeflow to develop an informal, voluntary carbon credit linked to each 1kg of cooked beans used by a school. The methodology quantified a saving of 2.51kg of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) emissions averted per 1kg of FarmFresh cooked beans used,  compared to the school's previous method of boiling the dried beans for hours over firewood to cook them properly.

TradeFlow paid the USD equivalent of the carbon offsets calculated as a donation to HOSO to promote improved nutrition while reducing reliance on solid biomass fuel stock. Working alongside HOSO, a local NGO reporting to the Rwandan Ministry of Education and with a national remit to promote best practice across all schools in Rwanda, FarmFresh has been shifting schools from cooking over firewood to using factory cooked beans which can be stored for longer, and only need to be warmed prior to serving.  FarmFresh cooks high quality beans sourced directly from smallholder farmers, in highly energy efficient retort machines, packed in recyclable laminate pouches,  at scale, and using a fraction of the energy compared to school kitchens using wood-fired ovens burning for several hours at a time. In Rwanda, the main source of protein for school children are beans, a key source of protein, complex carbohydrates, fibre and micronutrients including iron and zinc that require extensive cooking times to allow nutrition to be extracted from the beans.

With support from the Rockefeller Foundation's Good Food Innovation Fund (GFIF), FarmFresh looks to double capacity to 250mt per month as a next step to national coverage. Further, through a partnership with the Mayor's Office, City of Kigali, HOSO, Ministry of Education, National Child Development Agency (NCDA) and the Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), FarmFresh is targeting to supply 120mt of cooked beans per month to Kigali schools – representing 800,000 school meal servings and 300mt of Co2e emission averted per month, in the academic year starting in September 2023.

Dr Tom James, CEO of TradeFlow shared: "TradeFlow is leading the commodities sector in working with local partners to identify carbon saving projects and develop credit schemes that they are willing to support directly, bypassing the need for expensive, third party, distant verification agencies, but instead working to rigorous methodologies and developing indicators that can be verified using local auditors for real-world impact."

In agreement, Marie Claire Nyirankundizanye, the Acting Managing Director of FarmFresh said: "We are delighted to be part of this ground breaking initiative with our local and international partners. At FarmFresh we are committed to providing highly nutritious food to school children in an environmentally sustainable manner, that helps schools shift away from cooking over firewood. We are excited to work with HOSO and other partners, including the City of Kigali and Ministry of Education to scale our production and supply 120mt to schools with a focus on Kigali in the first instance."

Emmanuel Dusingizimana, the Executive Secretary of HOSO added: "We are excited to be part of this innovative initiative. The challenge of feeding high quality nutritious meals to the 3 million Rwanda school children, on limited budgets and in a way that is sustainable and not contributing to climate change, is a challenge that HOSO is keen to address. The partnership with FarmFresh and Tradeflow is an example of what can be done to meet this challenge. We look forward to scaling the innovation nationally."

About TradeFlow Capital Management (Tradeflow)

TradeFlow is the world's first Fintech-powered commodity trade enabler focused on SMEs. TradeFlow consists of a diverse team of experts with the focused mission of addressing the increasing trade finance gap faced by global SMEs operating as producers/traders/end-users in the bulk commodity trading space. By performing an enabling role in international trade and globalization, TradeFlow creates growth opportunities for businesses and economies.

To date, TradeFlow has successfully invested in more than US$2.5 Bn of physical commodity trade through 3000+ transactions across 18+ countries and 30+ commodity types, with more than 1800 SME counterpart entities KYC reviewed. As part of its unique business model, The TradeFlow Funds*, advised by TradeFlow, were conceived in 2016 and launched in 2018.

TradeFlow is a Partner of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to mobilise capital and improve trade finance access for SMEs worldwide through the "'ICC Trade Now" and "ICC Digital Trade Standards Initiative" platforms.

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About the FarmFresh Project

FarmFresh was founded in 2015 as part of the UK Government Department for International Development (DFID) funded SEED Programme, managed by H2O.  FarmFresh is an innovative Kigali-based food processing company that markets branded, fully-cooked Rwandan beans in laminated pouches aimed at retail consumers and institutions across East Africa.  FarmFresh sources beans either directly from smallerholder growers; by paying a premium for high quality beans, FarmFresh provides an incentive for farmers to increase the quality of their bean harvest, including the adoption of improved seed varieties that increase yield and standards, and benefits the producers by increasing their net household income.