Kenya - Business creation project

Describe your project or startup in a few words

Project Baraka aims at providing FREE bone broth to new born mothers in public maternity hospitals across Kenya. No facility offers this due to limited resources, hence, mothers miss on an important ingredient for their healing after giving birth.

01.01 Describe your project in more detail

I own and run a company called Nitras Limited, it deals in meat, groceries, fresh fruits juice and fast foods. I am doing a mutual partnership with the ministry of Health and the county governments in Kenya to offer free bone broth to all new born mothers in the country's public hospitals. The county governments will allocate me free spaces within their towns to place used shipping containers fabricated into modern/aesthetic shops with a reflection of the cultures of the local communities, from here, I will run my butcheries/grocery stores. From there, I will donate to the respective facilities enough meat to prepare the bone broth. I have carried research on the model to use to sustainably supply the free meat to the facility, starting with Machakos Level 5 Hospital, I will do a weekly supply of 100 Kilograms of meat from the one container shop to be placed in the town. That is 14.28KGs daily. Basically, for every 3 KGs of meat I sell, I donate 1Kg to the facility for the program.

01.02 What is the main problem you are trying to solve?

Newborn mothers in public maternity hospitals in Kenya have to do with just basic porridge from the white maize flour that lacks the essential nutrients to help them with their recovery after delivery. I want, through Project Baraka to give enough meat to make bone broth for these mothers during their stay in the hospital, and also, have it serve as an encouragement for them to try it at home once discharged from the hospitals. Under Project Baraka, 50% of my workforce will be women and from onset, my female employees will be entitled to paid menstrual leave. This is because we as a society need to start walking the talk on implementing policies at our workplaces that are women friendly. I intend to use solar energy in 60% of all my operations in the container shops, this is geared towards ensuring adoption of green energy in businesses and also serve as a benchmark for other youth owned enterprises.

01.03 Tell us the major benefits and/or advantages of using the product/service that your project intends to provide (at least 3).

Project Braka's bone broth will help newborn mothers with the following: 1. Helps replenish nutrient stores that have been depleted during pregnancy &childbirth. 2. The collagen in bone broth supports tissue repair & wound healing which helps in postpartum recovery especially for mothers who have had cesareans or perineal tears. 3. Nutrients in bone broth support the growth of neurons &changes in the maternal brain, facilitating mental clarity/stability. 4. Amino acids in bone broth help support hormonal balance which is essential during postpartum when hormone levels fluctuate. 5. Bone broth supports lactation through provision of essential nutrients for high-quality breastmilk. Helps provide adequate milk. 6. Glycine & proline, contained in bone broth are essential for strong digestion after the process of giving birth. 7. Bone broth hydration along with electrolytes like sodium, potassium & magnesium. 8. Collagen in bone broth aids in healthy hair growth & skin regains its tautness.

01.04 Please describe who exactly your project is aimed at serving. Who are the targeted beneficiaries?

Project Baraka aims at servicing the new born mothers in our public hospitals. It is important to note that mothers who develop complications during child birth or their newly born children develop complication during, at or after birth end up spending quite some time in the hospitals. The bone broth provided under this program will be quite essential for such mothers. The others who spend a day or two in the public hospitals will have this essential commodity at the most crucial moment and will also help encourage them and the loved ones to try it at home once they are discharged from the hospital.

01.05 When did you start working on your project?

2023-03-01

01.06 How many other partners are associated with your business venture?

1

01.07 Among the other partners, how many are female?

1

01.08 Please describe the profile of each of the other partners (skills, experience, etc.)

My fiancée has over 10 years of experience in the food industry. She is passionate about women reproductive health and is thrilled we have a chance to reach out to newborn mothers through what our company deals in.

01.09 If you have a website, a social media page (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin…), or app, please provide the link here:

01.10 Which industry best describes your project?

d) Primary commodities (food, drink, household and personal products)

02.01.01 My project contributes to the No poverty goal

5

02.01.02 No poverty - Justification

Through provision of job opportunities that are permanent and pensionable, the young families whose relatives and kins will work under Project Baraka will start a journey from poverty especially the many young couples trying to start families. Our commodities supply chain will focus on poor farmers in the villages because it is by only doing so that we can empower them to start moving to commercial farming hence employ more people in their farms as they share the more income generated from sales to businesses such as ours.

02.02.01 My project contributes to the Zero hunger goal

2

02.02.02 Zero hunger - Justification

02.03.01 My project contributes to the Good health and well-being goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.03.02 Good health and well-being - Justification

Any care is very crucial during the first few hours after giving birth. In African traditions, newborn mothers are nursed through provision of bone broth and yet, we have continued to deny them this very crucial commodity in the places the mothers give birth; public hospitals. Project Baraka envisions this plus much more through calls for mothers to deliver in healthcare facilities where they will be attended to by health professionals to help get to the target of zero maternal and neonatal deaths associated with deliveries at home which turn fatal incase of complications and also breed infections to both the mother and the child.

02.04.01 My project contributes to the Quality education goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.04.02 Quality education - Justification

02.05.01 My project contributes to the Gender equality goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.05.02 Gender equality - Justification

Atleast 50% of the workforce at Project Baraka shall be provided by women. By so doing we will be empowering women through earning an income that has to be atleast what the government of Kenya has set as minimum wage and has to have health insurance benefits. This way, the households of the women we will work with will be changed.

02.06.01 My project contributes to the Clean water and sanitation goal

2

02.06.02 Clean water and sanitation - Justification

02.07.01 My project contributes to the Affordable and clean energy goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.07.02 Affordable and clean energy - Justification

From onset, we intend to install solar panels on the Project Baraka containers' roofs for power. Kenya and African at large is conducive for solar power harvesting and we intend to harness that for 60% of our power needs. This cuts our power bills by 60% percent and the amount we save from this will be used to champion and campaign for use of clean energy, starting with supporting our own staff to go green in their homes.

02.08.01 My project contributes to the Decent work and economic growth

7 - Strongly Agree

02.08.02 Decent work and economic growth - Justification

Groceries in Kenya and Africa are mostly regarded as informal and directly employ the vendor alone. Through Project Baraka, we will demonstrate and mentor other budding entrepreneurs that we can professionalise the sector and offer a conducive environment that can even create employment for the many youths who are currently jobless in our country.

02.09.01 My project contributes to the Industry innovation and infrastructure

7 - Strongly Agree

02.09.02 Industry innovation and infrastructure - Justification

Technology in Kenya is driver of our economy, to cut on costs of operating the Project Baraka, which is very essential in our quest to sustainably offer the free meat for the preparation of bone broth for the newborn mothers, we intend to innovatively market and sell at least 70% of our revenues online. This will be enabled by the fact that we will be set up in urban and semi-urban centres where digital infrastructure is supported both by the private sector as well as the government. Our innovations around the digital space will enable our vulnerable employees to work remotely with our support hence ensuring that we do not exclude those who can not work in the normal environment.

02.10.01 My project contributes to the Reduced inequalities goal

2

02.10.02 Reduced inequalities - Justification

02.11.01 My project contributes to the Sustainable cities and communities goal

2

02.11.02 Sustainable cities and communities - Justification

02.12.01 My project contributes to the Responsible consumption and production goal

5

02.12.02 Responsible consumption and production - Justification

In dealing with small scale farmers for the supplies in our grocery stores, we will advocate for organic farming processes that take care of our soils, we will also champion for prudence use of irrigation water where necessary.

02.13.01 My project contributes to the Climate action goal

4

02.13.02 Climate action - Justification

02.14.01 My project contributes to the Life below water goal

5

02.14.02 Life below water - Justification

Plastic waste is a growing threat to marine life, other than actively joining the several community organizations that clean our water bodies, we will put in place measures to incentivise and get back majority of the plastics that we end up using in our containers shops even as we avoid the use of single use plastics in our business.

02.15.01 My project contributes to the Life on land goal

4

02.15.02 Life on land - Justification

02.16.01 My project contributes to the Peace justice and strong institutions goal

2

02.16.02 Peace justice and strong institutions - Justification

02.17.01 My project contributes to the Partnerships for the goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.17.02 Partnerships for the goal - Justification

We will be part of any call or action that's geared towards bringing together communities to engage on how best to achieve the sustainable development goals.

05.01 There are a large number of customers who already use a product/service very similar to the product/service we envision creating.

1 - Strongly Disagree

05.02 The product/service we envision creating represents an entirely new type of product/service.

7 - Strongly Agree

05.03 The product/service we envision creating could be described as a new technology.

1 - Strongly Disagree

05.04 The product/service we envision creating is an improvement on an existing product or service.

3

05.05 The product/service we envision creating could be described as an extension of a range of products or services.

3

05.06 The product/service we envision creating responds to a demand or need that has not been satisfied by other products/services.

7 - Strongly Agree

05.07 The product/service we envision creating is a new version of an old product/service.

1 - Strongly Disagree

05.08 Justification

No public hospital in the entire country is offering bone broth to our newborn mothers. Through Project Baraka, we will be able to start rolling this out starting with Machakos Level 5 Hospital in Machakos County. This is where we are doing our prove of concept as we look at expanding to the other counties to reach the entire 47 counties.

05.09 Who are your main potential competitors and what makes you stand out from them?

All major grocery stores offer the same products we intend to offer to the market. However, none works with the local communities, farmers and women as close as we will. Research shows that 78.2% of women claim to be their household's primary food shopper. In households where a spouse/partner and children are present, 80% of women perform most of the grocery shopping. This will be an advantage to us as we target these women. From serving them free bone broth when they are in the hospitals to giving them the most conducive working environment by being the first employer in the country to offer paid menstrual leaves to them. We will also contract majority of them for the supplies. These strategies will endear us as a household name that women can identify with hence drive more sales.

10.06 Are you initiating actions within your community to promote the role of female entrepreneurs?

We will deliberately pick women farmers only to supply us with products such a chicken and eggs that they can cheaply raise with basic education. We will support them with formal business contracts that they can use to secure funding from financial institutions so as to scale up.