H2O scouting of RIU portfolio reveals commercial opportunities
28 April 2011

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Back in December 2010 RIU reported on a new programme of Commissioned Work to exploit new and emerging opportunities and partnerships with the private sector from the RIU portfolio.

The work programme, called Commercialisation for Agriculture Sector Development, has started to clarify and prioritise these opportunities. The aim is to explore the potential for comercialisation of new or emerging technologies and business models within the East African agricultural sector. The eventual goal, by early 2012, is to develop the most promising opportunities to a stage ready for incubation using H2O's investment and development model. Three areas with such potential have been identified from the RIU portfolio:

• aquaculture/ fish farming inspired by Aqua Shops and the fish farming innovation platform developed by RIU Malawi. Two essential inputs which H2O are exploring are feed and tilapia fingerlings.
• post-harvest storage inspired by the warrantage scheme implemented by RIU Rwanda offers investment opportunities in financing and related insurance products, cross-season selling and also through improved farm inputs which drive up productivity.
• production of quality poultry feed inspired by the commercialisation of indigenous poultry initiative of RIU Tanzania. The issues here relate to the cost, quality and availability of feed - getting the right mix of protein, energy, minerals and vitamins for healthy productive chickens and ensuring continuity of supply to poultry keepers.

Dr Paul Coleman, Director of H2O Venture Partners, said:

"The next milestone we are working to is draft business plans for June 2011. We will then do the next stage of converting the partnerships to ink on paper, recruiting the entrepreneurial management from the region that can run these companies and the easy bit of raising the later stage finance. This will be completed by March 2012."