N'Lishe wins 1st-place enterprise award!

Photo courtesy of Amref International University.

We are delighted to introduce N'Lishe...

...1st-place winner of the ‘From Idea to Impact’ business plan competition with Amref International University and brainchild of Sheila Catherine Nyambugi, Ethel Barasa, Alvin Amboye, and Faith Sitawa. 

Huge congratulations on your innovative vision and upcoming social enterprise launch!

N'Lishe means ‘Nourish’ in Kiswahili. The idea behind the N’Lishe enterprise is simple, yet powerful – make a moringa powder and pumpkin seed powder supplement accessible for people to use in their everyday meals. 

"No mother or child should suffer from malnutrition due to a lack of affordable, nutritious food,” says Sheila. “We have so many locally accessible, nutrient-dense foods in Kenya. Moringa powder and pumpkin seed powder are practical and culturally accepted.”

The versatile supplement offers immediate impact. It can be added to meals or water. It’s easy to store and transport. The team plans to activate well-established distribution channels like local dukas (kiosks) and health clinics. They expect healthcare workers to become natural ambassadors – recommending it as a preferred, affordable supplement with zinc, iron and vitamin A during maternal checkups. 

“We want to ensure that the babies and the mothers get the nourishment they need, especially at the critical stages of life,” says Sheila.  

Sheila, Ethel, Alvin, and Faith just completed the ‘From Idea to Impact – Building a Public Health (Social) Enterprise’ 12-month learning cycle, a partnership project from AMIU, a subsidiary of Amref Health Africa, and FLRF. It aims to empower participants to conceive and implement business models that are both financially viable and aligned with their social objectives.

Ethel, N’Lishe product leader, says it helped them build entrepreneurial skills and learn how to be innovative in healthcare.

Next steps are seeking licensing for pharmaceutical production of N’Lishe, gaining compliance certifications for good manufacturing practices, and registering with the Pharmacy & Poisons Board, the national drug regulatory authority. “For the product to go to sale? It takes six to 12 months,” says Ethel. 

N’Lishe is also about empowerment and sustainability. “We want to be self reliant, create jobs and also to help the community,” says Ethel.

Sheila agrees. “This is not just a business. We see it as a movement towards long-term food security and health equity. This is about using local super foods, and the knowledge that we have culturally and in the communities. Then we can create a future where nutrition is really not a privilege, it's a right.” 

As they drive their enterprise forward, the team also plans to support the next cohorts of students in the ‘From Idea to Impact’ program. For example, sharing insights on product development, building community engagement strategies for mission-driven businesses, and looking for local solutions with local resources. 

“As we continue working on N’Lishe, the more experience we get, the more knowledge we get. We come and give it back to them and it becomes a cycle of collaborative growth and knowledge sharing,” says Sheila. 

Heartfelt wishes for the best of luck to the visionaries behind N’Lishe. We look forward to learning about your successes! 

Two more ‘From Idea to Impact’ learning cycles are in the making. Discover more in the media release here.