“SAF” is the result of complementary strengths uniting to establish a new paradigm for smallholder based industrial agri-processing. Yolélé, a purpose-driven African food company based in the US, had been cultivating global demand for fonio for years, but they recognized the inadequacies of the ancient West African grain’s supply chain. Meanwhile Simballa Sylla had successfully modernized the supply for shea butter in Mali, and was looking for a new value chain to connect a smallholder supplier base with additional sources of income.

In SAF, the partners have for the first time applied the modern agri-processing model to the climate-resilient ancient grain fonio. SAF sources directly from smallholders, using software to provide customers with traceable environmental and social impact. The company processes its fonio using state of the art equipment that efficiently reduces post-harvest losses. Its operations were set up from the outset to respect global food safety requirements. The result? Better product at a more accessible price.

SAF worked with local architects to build a LEED-certified processing facility that pays homage to regional cultures, with an adjacent applications center to cultivate a new generation of food technologists and chefs focused on foodservice and manufacturing uses for traditional local crops like fonio, sorghum, Bambara groundnut, tiger nuts, jujubes, desert dates, and African locust beans.