Kenya SUN Pitch Competition 2021

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the largest providers of food in Kenya. They can serve as strong impetus for harnessing innovative solutions that address local food system constraints.

The upcoming UN Food Systems Summit later in the year serves as a motivation for building back stronger food systems. Not only do SMEs occupy critical positions along agri-food value chains as input suppliers, off-takers, processors, distributors, or retailers at the global level but also feed an expansive majority of individuals who purchase their food in the open market.

Despite the vital role they play, they face barriers to accessing finances, mentorship thus fail to develop to their full potential and scaling up market-based solutions that can improve consumption of safe and nutritious foods. It is against this backdrop that Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network (SBN) Kenya in collaboration with key partners, will organise the 2021 Kenya Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Pitch Competition under the theme Unleashing the Power Within.

Themes

The focus of the Kenya SUN Pitch Competition will be to identify innovative nutrition sensitive SMEs that can provide scalable, inspiring, disruptive and investable solutions to the following food system innovation challenges.

• Food Design Innovations
  How can your business offer a unique solution to develop or introduce new, affordable and nutritious food products for local vulnerable populations?
• Post-harvest Loss Reduction Innovations
  How can your business offer a unique solution to reduce post-harvest loss along the supply chain and ensure the retention of nutrients in nutritious food?
• Market Connectivity Innovations
  How can your business offer unique solutions to improve the linkage between the supply, demand and distribution of affordable nutritious foods up to the last mile?
• Food Safety Innovations
  How can your business offer a unique solution to ensure food safety along the supply chain to improve the local consumption of safe and nutritious foods?

Awards categories

• Overall winner: USD 8.000
• 1st runner up: USD 4.000
• 2nd runner up: USD 3.000

Process

1. Submit applications by the 6th June 2021 midnight EAT if you meet our eligibility criteria.
2. Finalists selected by 10th June 2021.
3. Bootcamp training and mentoring take place between 14th – 21st June 2021.
4. Final event on 23rd June 2021.