African food businesses
sharing challenges, wisdom and creativity
Actionable insights. Proven experience. Hands-on guidance to help you implement what you learn. Encouragement from peers who understand your journey.
Latest Cases
Proper costing: getting better insight in our margins
Which of our products yields the best margins? How to properly factor in all costs?
Moderated by: Aart Duyser
You have your strategy right. But the proof of the pudding is in the execution.
Many good strategic plans fail because they are poorly executed. What does excellent execution look like?
Moderated by: Harm Voortman
Effective marketing with limited budget
How to do marketing well, if you don’t have the budgets that large corporations have?
Moderated by: Christine Kariuki
Our Facilitators
Harm Voortman is the founder of Persist, an impact-driven strategist helping scale sustainable agribusiness across Africa. He brings 15+ years of leadership experience — including CEO, COO and CFO roles in African agribusiness SMEs and operational turnarounds — guiding value chain growth, governance, and market expansion.
Aart Duijzer is the former CFO and Executive Director Special Projects of Refresco, the world's largest independent bottler of soft drinks and fruit juices. The company employs over 10,000 employees at more than 60 production sites in 12 countries. Aart is currently active on various supervisory boards and supports several start-ups and scale-ups with his knowledge and experience.
Christelle Mavalow Kalhoule is a seasoned West African leader in strategic partnerships, governance, and multi‑stakeholder collaboration. She has over 15 years’ experience bridging government, civil society, business, and global institutions. She champions women’s leadership and trains emerging leaders in strategic influence and partnership building
Christine Kariuki is a dynamic marketing executive with over 10 years of experience revitalizing major brands in Kenya and the UK. She currently leads the Mainstream & Value beer portfolio at Kenya Breweries Ltd, driving campaigns that fuse culture, community, and deliver on strong national pride. Prior to this, she worked in the UK within the Diageo UK business unit, delivering growth and exciting campaigns.
Sybren Attema is chairman of the board of FrieslandCampina, a Dutch dairy multinational with offices in 30 countries and employing nearly 20,000 people. Sybren played an active role in establishing and expanding FrieslandCampina's dairy activities in Asia and Africa. Sybren is from a farmers family and has been a farmer himself for many years
Koert Jansen is the director of Incluvest Management Services BV, with more than 20 years of experience in impact investing in African agri-food companies. He brings hands-on experience with stewardship-based ownership and governance models, and completed training with the Institute of Directors South Africa in the King V Code of Corporate Governance.
Each case is built around one real business challenge, brought by an African food entrepreneur from the Fair Factory community. A facilitator guides the conversation, keeps it focused, and makes sure the challenge-owner leaves with practical next steps, not just good intentions.
Around the table sit peers — food entrepreneurs and experienced business people, from Africa, the Netherlands, Germany, wherever relevant experience comes from. Everyone contributes: sharing what they've tried, what's worked, what hasn't, and the questions that help the challenge-owner see their situation more clearly.
You leave with actionable insights, grounded in real experience — and a circle of peers who now know your business, and will keep showing up for you.
Who we are
We trace our roots to 1973, when Woord en Daad was founded by a food entrepreneur and a pastor. That founding shaped the organisation's DNA: faith-based and entrepreneurial. To this day, the work of Woord en Daad and its spin-offs is supported by many faith-driven entrepreneurs.
From our work in inclusive agribusiness development, Incluvest was born in 2012, pioneering impact financing for African and Asian agri-SMEs.
In 2019, we founded the Fair Factory Development Fund, an impact investment fund built on a singular conviction: true rural development stems from processing agricultural products, not just trading them. Grounded in good stewardship, this development can be sustained for generations.
In 2026, we launched the Boaz Business School as a spin-off of these investment activities. Over the years we've learned a lot, together with the companies we work with — and we still are. This platform helps transmit and amplify those learnings.
Why 'Boaz'?
The biblical Boaz was a successful agri-businessman who used his wealth to do good. It's the same spirit that drove the founder-entrepreneur of Woord en Daad, and the same spirit we hope to pass on. Together, we promote a way of doing business we call strategic stewardship: the idea that being a good steward isn't only a biblical calling, but also makes companies more resilient in a turbulent world.
