She is a passionate entrepreneur who wants to give back control over the entire food value chain to significantly reduce crop losses in Egypt. With her brother, she developed a tech solution for that purpose.

Farah Emara (photo) is the CEO of Egyptian agritech startup Freshsource, which she launched with her brother Omar Emara.

Her startup leverages data and tech tools to transform the lives of producers, businesses, and consumers by creating sustainable food systems. It was launched after its two co-founders realized that in Egypt, food security is jeopardized because close to 30% of crops are lost due to poor post-harvest, storage, and transportation conditions. They also noticed that the high number of intermediaries in the supply chain and the lack of transparency generate an about 80% income shortfall for farmers. 

Therefore, with over 80 employees, the startup launched in Cairo, in 2018, manages the entire fresh food value chain, including transportation, storage, and packaging in cold storage and appropriate facilities. It buys from farmers at consistent prices and sells the products at reduced rates. Nowadays, it serves clients in 11 cities in Egypt, with the aim of becoming the leading agricultural supply chain platform in the Middle East and North Africa region and changing the way fresh produce is bought, transported, and sold. It has already transported more than 10,000 tons of produce and claims over 1,000 deliveries weekly.

"FreshSource is disrupting the Egyptian agriculture industry by streamlining the value chain through technology. We are the region’s first B2B platform for fresh fruits and vegetables, connecting producers to businesses by leveraging data and technology and providing last-mile solutions," Farah Emara said in 2022.

 Before founding FreshSource, between 2012 and 2016, she worked for Endeavour, a global community of high-impact entrepreneurs, as an entrepreneur selection and growth analyst and then as an entrepreneur selection and growth manager. In March 2016, she joined the consumer goods company Procter & Gamble where she worked as a Strategic Business Manager for the Middle East until 2018.

Let's note that her startup is among the 14 businesses selected for the 2023 Africa Tech Summit (February 15-16).  In 2022, she received the Digital Agriculture Award of the year, issued by the World Bank and the IFC. 

Melchior Koba