Business-Centered Innovations

However, many enterprises struggle to move from early promise to sustainable growth. Many fall into the so-called “valley of death”, the critical stage between pilot and scale, where limited access to finance, weak market connections, and gaps in business capabilities prevent promising ventures from reaching their full potential and impact.

Our Approach

WHH works to unlock the potential of private sector innovation to create sustainable livelihoods, jobs, and resilient food systems by supporting purpose-driven enterprises that combine commercial viability with measurable social impact. Our approach goes beyond financing alone. We support enterprises strengthen their business fundamentals, improve investment readiness, validate market demand, and connect with the partnerships, capital, and technical support needed to grow. By linking entrepreneurship with ecosystem collaboration and field-level relevance, we promising solutions can move from pilot stage to scalable impact.

Through the Herizon programme, SHONA and Welthungerhilfe are addressing structural barriers that women-led enterprises continue to face — particularly in accessing finance, markets and cross-border opportunities.

Together, we work to strengthen ecosystems that enable businesses to grow sustainably. Our collaboration focuses on fostering connections, capacity building, facilitating exchange, and building trust among entrepreneurs, investors and ecosystem actors.

By connecting entrepreneurs across Kenya and Uganda with the right partners and resources, we are contributing to stronger regional value chains and supporting businesses with the potential to scale and create lasting impact.

SHONA is a Uganda-based social enterprise that supports women entrepreneurs through tailored business development, mentorship, and access to networks and capital.

Learn more about SHONA

Agsol operates at the intersection of agriculture and renewable energy. Its solar-powered hammer mills provide a clean, efficient and scalable alternative to diesel-powered milling – particularly for off-grid farming communities.

In collaboration with Welthungerhilfe, Agsol’s technology is being deployed in rural schools and to smallholder farmer communities in Kenya. Solar-powered mills support school feeding programmes by improving access to safe, affordable and locally processed food.

Within this partnership, Welthungerhilfe focuses on measuring and understanding impact – not only for students, but also for surrounding communities who benefit from improved access to processing infrastructure.

Learn more about Agsol

Innovation can start small – in this case, with a fungus and a toothpick.

Since 2016, Welthungerhilfe has supported the Toothpick Project, leading to the establishment of Toothpick Company Limited in Kenya in 2018. Together with partners, the company is scaling a solution to combat Striga, one of the most destructive parasitic weeds in sub-Saharan Africa, threatening the food security of millions of smallholder farmers.

Their product, Kichawi Kill®, uses a naturally occurring fungal strain to target Striga safely and effectively – without chemical inputs. What began as a simple application using toothpicks has evolved into a user-friendly seed treatment that protects crops directly in the soil.

The impact is significant: healthier crops, more stable harvests, and increased incomes. Fields treated against Striga can see yield increases of more than 50%.

In 2025, the company has reached around 20,000 farmers in Kenya and expanded into Uganda, with further growth planned across the region.

Learn more about Toothpick

Spouts of Water combines commercial distribution with carbon financing to increase access to essential products for low-income households in Uganda and Rwanda.

Their ceramic water filters provide safe drinking water, while improved cookstove initiatives contribute to cleaner air and more sustainable energy use.

Welthungerhilfe first partnered with Spouts of Water in 2018 through the use of their filters in a water project in Uganda. Since then, the relationship has grown into a close collaboration – from customer to strategic partner.

Through continuous feedback from field implementation, we have contributed to product improvement and gained valuable insights into user needs. To support further growth, Welthungerhilfe became a shareholder, strengthening the long-term partnership and supporting the company’s expansion.

Learn more about Spouts

Bahir Dar Tissue Cooperation Enterprise works with a sterile laboratory technology to produce and sell huge volumes of high-quality seedlings of fruit trees and tubers in Ethiopia.

The center serves as an income-generating social enterprise aimed at enhancing agricultural productivity, fostering food security, and improving the livelihoods of farmers in the region. Improved seed varieties that are diseases resistant are important to combat unpredictable rainfall and ensure strong and sustainable agriculture.

It is one of the commercial laboratories contributing to the growth of plant tissue culture technology in Ethiopia. The center works alongside regional agricultural research institutes and has been supported by Welthungerhilfe as a partner.

WHH is a trusted partner for start-ups and social businesses, experienced as regional and local ecosystem builder and connector. For this we take on four different roles:

• As enabler we unlock impact through capacity building, technical support to star-ups and SMEs.
• As connector we build bridges between enterprises, investors, governments, and NGOs.
• As collaborator we scale ventures and integrate them into programs.
• As catalyst we provide early-stage support and catalytic capital.