Cameroonian SME Agro-Hub eyes 2016 Nestlé Prize

The jury of the "2016 Nestlé Prize for the creation of shared value" has just revealed the names of two SMEs chosen among 450 candidates, for the final of this competition whose winner will be revealed on June 21, 2016, in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. After the final result, the two finalists will share a total envelope of 500,000 Swiss francs.

This is firstly the Tanzanian company Natural Extracts Industries (NEI), which competed with an initiative to "market extracts of natural vanilla, cocoa and orange flavourings, working with small producers on the Tanzanian side of Mount Kilimanjaro".

The jury then selected Agro-Hub, "an agricultural production and marketing agency in south-west Cameroon,working to help small producers gain access to sustainable markets. Agro-Hub built a small unit to process cassava into starch and gari, a form of tapioca, to sell them to its network of consumers through its own fresh produce shop (Agro-Mart)".

"Both programmes stood out. Because they offer social and economic advantages to small agricultural producers in sub-Saharan Africa and increase the commercial value of the vanilla and cassava locally", declared the Deputy Administrator of Nestlé, Paul Bulcke. Before adding: "These are good examples of the contribution of the private sector to increasing livelihoods in Africa".