Food Direct

We all probably take for granted the ability to go to a nearby grocery store or restaurant and grab, well, basically anything. For us healthy food is just a short walk or drive away. The reality in the developing world couldn't be more different. Whether it's in huge cities or rural areas, getting fresh healthy food into the homes of some of the world's most vulnerable people is one of the biggest challenges of our age.

You're probably thinking "what's so hard about getting food to people?". That's what we thought until we spent a year digging into it. A lot of the challenge is that fresh food often needs to be harvested, transported, stored, and sold in very particular ways. A lot of what you'd find at a western grocery store, for example, arrived via cold chain logistics - specially chilled trucks and warehouses keeps our food as fresh as possible before it reaches stores (and even once on shelves). None of that really exists in developing contexts - once food is harvested it needs to be transported and sold almost immediately, lest it spoil on trucks or shelves.

This cause is a partnership with Kiva to invest in a portfolio of women working along the supply chain that brings healthy food to vulnerable communities, from supporting farmers growing healthy produce to investing into women operating the kind of small food stalls that can reliably get that produce into the homes of people who need it.