Make your voice heard by voting for your favorite women entrepreneur-led startup solution and they could be the Winner of the Bayer Foundation Women Empowerment Award 2022! Choose your preferred startup in Southern Africa. Want to know more about each startup? Check out the profiles of the health and nutrition startups participating in the public voting and find out more about their innovative solutions.
Public Voting has now closed – winners will be announced soon!
2018
South Africa
Farmers Assistant is a full stack marketplace for rural smallholder farmers in Southern Africa that offers agro-processing equipment, agricultural inputs, land, e-agribusiness extension services and financial products to 100 000 smallholder farmers in the region.
2021
Zambia
Bulyo porridge is a healthy porridge that is made from carefully selected ingredients such as; Rice, Soya, groundnuts and papitas seeds. The porridge is very Delicious which is more reason most people have failed to resist it. The porridge is an innovation that came up as a result of a solution to manultrion levels here in Zambia. Nationally, about 40% of children under 5 years in Zambia are stunted and that constitutes about One Million of the population according to the USAID nutritional file.
2020
Zambia
Kasenga Agro Solutions is a company in beekeeping, honey production, and sustainable forest management using an out-grower business model working with women in rural communities that are living below the poverty margin. We empower women with beehives and train them in honey production, sustainable forest management, beekeeping, and financial literacy. Each year we intend to train and empower 100 women. Until now, we graduated and trained the first cohort of 25 women.
2021
Zimbabwe
We manufacture locally made sanitary pads and diapers using available cloths and material, sterilising the product immediately after packing and we make this available to less privileged. We have a year now running and would want to import machinery to help us cope with the demand as our product is highly affordable and adopted.
2020
South Africa
FemConnect is a women’s health one-stop-shop that allows easier access to feminine hygiene products and services the same way we order food online! We believe in a lot of things such as no "girl-child" should be missing out on life due to menstruation because we all deserve a dignified period.
2017
Malawi
GREENLEAF INVESTMENTS produces, sells and distributes affordable Domestic and Commercial Biodigesters for production of biogas energy from Agriculture or Home Waste. This helps poor families to have reliable and clean energy, raising food yields from using organic fertilizer, reducing organic waste and losses in the food chain through proper utilization of residues as well as reduce the emission of Greenhouse Gases that course Climate Change.
2019
South Africa
We have created the first educational pregnancy mobile app from Sub Saharan Africa. Each user can personalize the app for themselves and use any of the 30 unique features to track her own pregnancy from week to week.
2021
South Africa
Zoie Health is Africa's first women's health & wellness clinic, making healthcare more convenient, affordable and caring with a focus on family planning, fertility and maternity care. Our platform provides virtual consults with a variety of healthcare providers, medication delivery and a community of other women and medical experts for advice and support. Future products include: home visits (antenatal, postnatal and general reproductive care) and home test kits (including HPV and HIV).
2018
South Africa
Africa's first digital AI - Mental and Wellness Healthcare solutions. Stress Xchange Behavioural Healthcare's vision is to transform Africa's Mental & Wellness Healthcare - by unlocking the power of African Traditions, Innovation and big data.
2019
Zambia
Kukuzya Agro Limited is an agri-social entrepreneurial start-up that seeks to profitably produce superior quality, nutritiously organic, safe, competitively priced sweet potato processed products, goat meat and dairy products that inspires a healthier lifestyle. In achieving profitability and growth, Kukuzya intends to collaboratively work with disadvantaged women within the communities it operates to inculcate economic independence through the generation of self-sustaining incomes .
2021
Zimbabwe
Cropfix by eAgro is a whats-app and text based chat-bot that assists in identifying plant damage from pests, diseases and nutrient deficiency with the help of machine learning. With just one photo of the crop, Cropfix diagnoses crops and offers treatment for pest, disease or nutrient deficiency problems using climate smart methods, it gives farmer pesticide and options of where to buy them which are cheapest and nearest to them.
2020
South Africa
We aim to make better meat. We are Africa's first cultivated meat company, bringing the first cultivated beef burger to the continent.
2018
Malawi
Lilies Innovations is a female led Agrobased enterprisewhich started in 2018. The enterprise deals in agriculture commodity trading, especially dry cereals and pulses. target customers include processing companies, export markets and direct consumers
2021
South Africa
The vision is to develop the micro settlement into a social enterprise & green initiative with hydro/chicken farming, waste management, rainwater harvesting & vertical farming, utilizing SunPower & nano-eco-cabin-accommodation for destitute SASSA disability pensioners. The main milestone is to improve health & living standards, endorsing physical, mental and spiritual well-being to the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in society: the elderly, the disabled and mentally ill.
2022
South Africa
Shipower team install sanitary pads vending machines on schools, workplaces and colleges where women and girls can access and collect sanitary pads at an affordable price. The team’s initiative also includes awareness build-up and training on smart disposal. The aim is to make sanitary pads affordable and easily accessible to women and build the habit of using menstrual hygiene products among women and girls by making it accessible to them.
2021
South Africa
Using the power of our technology, precision fermentation, we can create the important immune regulating proteins to ensure humans get the correct nutrition from day one. Using our technology, we can make these proteins directly, and as a result we aim to make these immune proteins more cost effective. completely pathogen free, completely free of any animal cruelty and perfectly designed for the human immune system.
South Africa
Our aim as an organisation is to provide underprivileged children in the early childhood development stage with nutritionally packed meals to aid with the growing of their brain. Children who lack proper nutrition during this crucial growth stage in their life, show the prevalence of various issues later on in life. We foster an holistic approach towards the development of their behavioral, mental and psychological health and wellbeing.
2016
Zimbabwe
JB Dondolo removes barriers to access clean water, sanitation, and hygiene in underserved and impoverished communities to reduce poverty and promote gender equity. We focus on women and girls who are the most vulnerable people in these low-income communities to get them out of the cycle of poverty with access to clean water. Our vision is to see a world where clean water is not an obstacle to pursuing a better and more equitable life.
2019
Zambia
Sukie Wellness is a Nutrition brand delivering high quality Nutrition services for weight management and optimal health. Leveraging technology, we help clients have easy access to Nutritionists, nutrition knowledge, nutrition coaching and affordable baby cereal. services include: Nutritionist consultations, nutrition coaching/counseling and healthy Baby Cereal . Our mission is to impact Africa with nutrition knowledge to help combat obesity, malnutrition and non communicable diseases.
2017
South Africa
NutriVita, as the holding company, trades under the Real brand of products and services. We are a (fruit and veg) agro-processing social enterprise operating in the wellness space. Our mission is to make healthy easy and conveniently accessible. We do this by producing cold-pressed juices, smoothies, salads, soups and more which we sell in pre-made or DIY options.
2005
South Africa
Woman-owned manufacturer of handcrafted, gourmet sweets and chocolates. We have recently decided to diversify our range of confectionary and manufacture healthy foods and snacks due to the popularity of our Forest Fairies Sweets Zero range of 'no sugar added' sweets and chocolates. Our range is unique with many world firsts… it is a comeback of the old fashioned sweets and delicious coverture chocolate.
2012
South Africa
We manufacture vitamin-enriched quality food products and nutrition training services to enhance the quality of lives of our people. We believe in the power of food to enhance lives.
2014
Malawi
Mgom'mera is a seed production and supply company, based in Lilongwe, Malawi (Central Africa). The company produces clean and certified seeds for smallholder farmers, agro processors, cooperatives, government programs and non-government programs. It particularly, focuses on drought tolerant, high yielding and nutrient dense varieties of legumes, cereals, roots, and tubers. The seed commodities include: from cereals is quality protein maize (QPM) and ZM623, and Beta Carotene Maize rich in Vitamin
2020
South Africa
We produce Hot, Medium and Mild Chilli Sauces in the “Louisiana Style” of sauce making, all our Chillies are matured (fermented) for a minimum of 30 days. Our Mayo range is Egg-Free, Dairy Free and Gluten Free and made from Canola Mayonnaise. Each sauce is produced with a different type of Chilli which determines the different Colour, Flavour and Heat to the various Sauces. Our ingredients are sourced from local farms and suppliers
2015
Malawi
Homes Industries is ag agro-processing company working with over a 1000 smallholder farmers in growing sunflower, rice and groundnuts. these are processed into oil, peanut flour and butter as well as regular white rice and brown rice.
2022
Zambia
Moyo, which means "Life" is a digital mental health service platform that links clients with counselling needs to qualified professional through mobile phone, WhatsApp and through our mobile application which is under development. Moyo was created due to the rising cases of suicide in Zambia. Mental health topics are highly avoided in the African culture; thus, Moyo offers affordable and accessible live support and online resources that anyone seeking to enhance their mental wellness can use.
2018
Zambia
Women's health, survival and well-being is an urgent, statistics show that more than 1 million mothers and infants die annually with over 50% of deaths concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa. Infection mainly due to lack of access to sterile supplies and trained birth attendants. Our organization works to advance safe births for pregnant women in underserved communities by developing and distributing innovative sterile tools & products to ensure positive health outcomes for both mother and newborns.
2020
South Africa
Imagine if your favorite foods helped you to eat your way to Good Health? We are Farming in a Skirt a brand that believes in the healing and nourishing power of nature. We are proud & passionate producers of Natural, Health & Taste conscious Foods. Our ranges help natural & health conscious Foodies to achieve their health and lifestyle goals whilst bringing delight & excitement with our conscious range of products. We reduce the risk of lifestyle related diseases with our alternative offering.
2016
Zambia
Our company was registered in March of 2016 as a sole proprietorship when we discovered that there was a serious problem of fish deficit, high market prices for fish and cases of protein energy malnutrition, even when we lived in an area full of natural rivers and streams of water everywhere in our community. The problem of fish deficit came along with problems of overfishing, using dangerous method to fish in the fish capture sector hence leading to the depletion of fish in the natural habitat