Unlocking prosperity for the communities the economy leaves behind.
Shared Value Foundation is a Pan-African non-profit dedicated to accelerating inclusive and sustainable solutions that deliver measurable social, environmental, and economic impact. We empower entrepreneurs, women, youth, farmers, and local innovators with the tools, partnerships, and opportunities they need to improve livelihoods, strengthen local economies, expand clean energy access, and build a more sustainable future for all.
Markets can serve people. Our job is to make sure they do.
As a Pan-African non-profit, we don't sell services — we mobilize the shared value approach for the public good. When organizations align what they do best with what their communities need most, competitiveness and community wellbeing rise together: incomes grow, local economies strengthen, and clean energy reaches more people. Impact built this way is self-sustaining — it doesn't depend on the next grant cycle. That is the change we exist to catalyze, measure, and share across Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Nigeria.
"A competitive, vibrant private sector reduces poverty, creates employment, and increases access to important goods and services." — Why we exist
Three levers. One outcome: prosperity that compounds.
Reconceiving Products & Markets
Designing products and services for unmet societal needs expands consumer bases, drives innovation, and opens entirely new markets — turning challenges into growth strategies.
Redefining Value-Chain Productivity
When companies become more efficient in their daily processes — energy, sourcing, logistics, labor practices — economic gain and societal impact improve in the same motion.
Enabling Local Cluster Development
Thriving companies need reliable local suppliers, capable infrastructure, access to talent, and dependable institutions. Strengthening the ecosystem strengthens every business in it.
Practical solutions for people and planet.
As a non-profit, we design and deliver community-centred solutions — made possible by donors, development partners and well-wishers — that turn social and environmental challenges into opportunities for shared prosperity.
Value Chain & Market Development
We facilitate market growth by addressing underlying constraints, supporting innovations that reach scale, and improving access for the bottom of the pyramid — so households and communities fully benefit from economic opportunity.
Read More →Enterprise Development & Technical Advisory
A competitive, vibrant private sector reduces poverty and creates employment. We support local entrepreneurs to find markets, access finance, and build the capacity they need to lift entire communities.
Read More →Youth Engagement
We help organizations achieve vibrant, transformative youth participation — empowering young people to achieve their rights, develop their full potential, and bring bold, creative solutions to societal challenges.
Read More →Digitization & Artificial Intelligence
Digital technologies — broadband, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, AI — have transformed how we work and do business. We enable organizations and community enterprises to harness data, analytics and automation for evidence-based decisions, insight generation and process optimization, unlocking shared value at scale.
Read More →Where need — and opportunity — are greatest.
Across all our solutions, we concentrate our work in the sectors where shared value can transform the most lives.
Agriculture
Supporting farmers to diversify their production systems and become more resilient to adverse conditions.
Clean Energy
Helping communities and enterprises adopt clean energy technologies that bring affordable, reliable power.
Climate Change
Advancing climate adaptation and carbon management for the communities most exposed to climate risk.
Waste & Circularity
Promoting the circular economy — preventing, reusing, recycling and recovering value from waste, from strategic planning to hands-on implementation.
Water & Sanitation
Planning, designing and optimizing drinking water, wastewater and recycled water systems for community health.
Oceans & Landscapes
Restoring the landscapes and waters that communities depend on through better stewardship of shared resources.
Lift a community enterprise. Any amount counts.
Through our crowdfunding platform, anyone can directly support grassroots businesses in agriculture, clean energy, water and more — helping local enterprises survive, grow, and create jobs where they are needed most.
Impact we measure and report.
Governance
Independent board oversight with a published constitution and conflict-of-interest policy.
Transparency
Annual reports and audited financial statements published every year. View reports →
Accountability
Every program is monitored against measurable outcomes reported back to communities and funders alike.
One mission. Five countries. A Pan-African footprint.
From the Rift Valley to the Niger Delta, our programs and crowdfunding platform back community enterprises where they live and work. Select a country to explore our presence.
Kenya
Regional hub — Nairobi & Thika
Home of our crowdfunding platform and flagship agriculture programs — from hydroponic farming in Kiambu to organic aggregation in Homa Bay and sunflower value chains in Migori.
See live campaigns →We never work alone.
Shared value is built through coalitions. Across our five countries we collaborate with the institutions closest to the communities we serve.
Development Partners
Bilateral and multilateral agencies co-funding market-systems, climate and clean-energy programs.
Governments & Counties
National and sub-national authorities aligning our programs with local development plans.
Cooperatives & Producer Groups
Farmer-owned organizations through which value reaches thousands of smallholder households.
Impact Funders & Investors
Philanthropies and investors providing catalytic capital for community enterprises to scale.
Partner logos will be published here as agreements allow. Become a partner →
Help us prove that purpose and prosperity belong together.
As a non-profit, our work is only possible through the generosity of donors, development partners and philanthropic funders. Fund a program, co-create an initiative, or volunteer your expertise.
Solutions that unlock shared value.
As a non-profit, we design and deliver community-centred solutions — made possible by donors, development partners and well-wishers — that turn social and environmental challenges into opportunities for shared prosperity.
Value Chain & Market Development
We facilitate market growth by addressing underlying constraints and supporting disruptive innovations to reach scale and improve access for the bottom of the pyramid. We strive for whole-system change — harnessing the power of market forces to achieve sustainable impact at scale, so households and communities fully benefit as entrepreneurs, suppliers, consumers and employees.
Read More →Enterprise Development & Technical Advisory
A competitive, vibrant private sector reduces poverty, creates employment, and increases access to important goods and services. We support local entrepreneurs to find markets, access finance, and build the capacity to navigate organizational challenges — through hands-on support and our Pre-Accelerator and Accelerator programmes.
Read More →Youth Engagement
We help organizations achieve vibrant and transformative youth participation. As lived-experience leaders, we support institutions to engage young people meaningfully — helping youth achieve their rights and full potential, and bringing their innovative, creative and bold solutions to societal challenges.
Read More →Digitization & Artificial Intelligence
Digital technologies have transformed how we work, communicate and do business. We enable organizations and community enterprises to harness data, analytics, AI and automation for evidence-based decision making, insight generation and process optimization — extending the benefits of digital transformation to those too often left out of it.
Read More →Help us bring these solutions to more communities.
Our work is only possible through the generosity of donors, development partners and philanthropic funders.
Harnessing market forces for sustainable impact at scale.
We facilitate market growth by addressing underlying constraints and supporting disruptive innovations to reach scale and improve access for the bottom of the pyramid. Our work with all stakeholders in the market system empowers households and communities to fully benefit from economic opportunities — as entrepreneurs, suppliers, consumers and employees.
Addressing Market Constraints
We identify and tackle the underlying barriers that keep smallholders, producer groups and community enterprises locked out of profitable markets.
Connecting Entrepreneurs to Markets
We build the linkages between local producers and structured markets so that value flows back to the communities that create it.
Expanding Access to Finance
We help community enterprises become finance-ready and connect them to the capital they need to grow sustainably.
Capacity Building
Practical, relevant training that strengthens the skills of entrepreneurs, cooperatives and market actors at every level of the chain.
Supporting Disruptive Innovation
We back innovations with the potential to reach scale and transform how markets serve low-income communities.
Inclusive Market Systems
Through this work we increase productivity and competitiveness to foster market systems that include everyone.
Walking with producers at every link of the chain
Behind every strong value chain are people — smallholder farmers, traders, processors and retailers. We work alongside them to remove the barriers between effort and reward, so that the value created in rural communities stays in rural communities.
Help us bring this work to more communities.
As a non-profit, this work is made possible by donors, development partners and well-wishers. Your support extends its reach.
A vibrant private sector lifts entire communities.
A competitive, vibrant private sector reduces poverty, creates employment, and increases access to important goods and services. We offer enterprise development and technical support to local entrepreneurs to help them achieve their full potential — supporting them to find markets, access finance, and build the capacity to navigate organizational challenges.
Find Markets
We help entrepreneurs identify and reach the markets where their products and services can thrive.
Access Finance
From crowdfunding to investor readiness, we connect enterprises to the funding that fuels growth.
Build Capacity
Relevant, effective capacity building so enterprises can navigate organizational challenges with confidence.
From your own network to your next investor.
Bank loans remain out of reach for many community enterprises — interest rates and collateral requirements see to that. So we built a different ladder. Enterprises in our programs start by mobilizing their own networks through our crowdfunding platform; those that raise at least 50% of their target become eligible for matching support; and our investment-readiness coaching prepares the strongest to approach institutional funders.
Crowdfund
Raise working capital from family, friends, customers and diaspora on our crowdfunding platform — with coaching at every step.
Unlock matching
Reach 50% of your target from your own network and become eligible for matching support from the Foundation and partners.
Graduate to investment
Build a track record, sharpen your financials, and step up to institutional finance through our accelerator pathway.
Programs for every stage of the journey.
Cohort-based, hands-on, and free to selected community enterprises — made possible by our donors and development partners.
Pre-Accelerator Programme
For early-stage and startup ventures laying their foundations — helping founders sharpen their business model, governance and readiness before scaling.
Accelerator Programme
An intensive 6-month program for high-potential growth ventures looking to scale. The focus is on sales, scaling and fundraising — positioning teams to raise their next funding round. And our support doesn’t end after six months: we continue to walk with our alumni founders as they build and grow.
Support that meets entrepreneurs where they are
Our support is practical, not theoretical. We sit with founders in their facilities, walk their processes with them, and help them solve the real constraints holding their enterprises back — from production to pricing to partnerships.
Help us bring this work to more communities.
As a non-profit, this work is made possible by donors, development partners and well-wishers. Your support extends its reach.
Vibrant, transformative youth participation.
To get meaningful engagement with young people, every organization needs a vibrant approach, a well thought-out strategy, and a clearly communicated vision. Without this, participation can feel tokenistic — frustrating false starts, demotivating drift, and ultimately young people not engaging. We are lived-experience leaders who help organizations create vibrant services for young people.
For Youth
To help young people achieve their rights and develop their full potential.
For Society
To address societal needs and challenges through youth-led innovative, creative and bold solutions.
For Institutions
To improve the work of institutions serving youth — making it reality-checked, relevant and responsive.
Young people thrive when communities stand behind them
Youth engagement does not happen in isolation. We work with families, elders, institutions and community groups to build the environments where young people are heard, trusted, and given real responsibility.
Help us bring this work to more communities.
As a non-profit, this work is made possible by donors, development partners and well-wishers. Your support extends its reach.
Putting digital technology to work for communities.
The possibilities offered by digital technologies over the past two decades have been nothing short of remarkable. The pervasiveness of broadband, ubiquitous connectivity, cloud computing, the Internet of Things and social networking have transformed how we work, communicate, socialize and do business. We help organizations and community enterprises harness that transformation for shared value.
Data & Analytics
We enable organizations to use data and analytics for faster, larger-scale evidence-based decision making, insight generation and process optimization.
AI & Automation
We work with organizations to accelerate progress in AI and automation, bringing new opportunities for users, enterprises and the wider economy.
Digital Inclusion
We extend the benefits of digital transformation to the community enterprises and entrepreneurs who are too often left out of it.
Digital tools in service of real-world impact
From sensors on solar installations to data dashboards for cooperatives, we apply digital technology where it changes outcomes for communities — never technology for its own sake.
Help us bring this work to more communities.
As a non-profit, this work is made possible by donors, development partners and well-wishers. Your support extends its reach.
Many small contributions. One thriving enterprise.
Crowdfunding is a way to raise funds for a business or cause by asking a large group of people to each contribute a small amount. On our platform, community enterprises mobilize their networks — family, friends, customers, diaspora — and supporters like you help them grow. Nothing is too small to make a difference.
When banks say no, communities say yes.
Access to finance remains the biggest barrier for community enterprises — high interest rates and collateral requirements lock out the very businesses that feed and employ their communities. Crowdfunding opens another door: by involving family, friends and wider networks, an enterprise can create a snowball effect and raise the working capital it needs, one contribution at a time.
Reach half your target — and we'll help you go further.
Enterprises that mobilize at least 50% of their funding target from their own networks become eligible for matching support from the Foundation and our partners, subject to available funds. Your community's belief in you unlocks ours.
Start your campaign
Are you a community enterprise solving a real problem? Create your initiative, tell your story, and mobilize your network. You won't do it alone — our team coaches every campaigner on storytelling, outreach and follow-through, from setup to final shilling.
Start Your CampaignBack a campaign
Browse community enterprises by county, sector or theme and find one you believe in. Every contribution — however small — helps a local business buy inputs, retain workers, and keep feeding and serving its community. Anything you can spare is well spent.
Browse CampaignsMobilize your network. Create a snowball.
Tell your story
Campaigners pitch their enterprise — who they are, what they do, and what the funds will unlock — with coaching from our local experts.
Mobilize the crowd
Family, friends, customers and diaspora give what they can. Shared on social media, each gift inspires the next — the snowball effect.
Grow & report back
Funds become working capital, equipment and jobs. Campaigners share their progress so every supporter sees the impact of their gift.
Back an enterprise today.
Real businesses, real communities, real progress. Choose a campaign and become part of its success story.
Carefree Hydroponics Farm Center
Growing more food with less land and water through hydroponic farming technology.
Seven Effects Enterprises
Organizing organic smallholder farmers to reach better markets and build sustainable incomes.
Kamida Enterprises Limited
Unlocking the potential of sunflower farming for food security and rural incomes.
Where your support unlocks shared value.
We welcome community enterprises working in the sectors where need — and opportunity — are greatest.
Agriculture
Supporting farmers to diversify their production systems and become more resilient to adverse conditions.
Clean Energy
Enterprises deploying clean energy technologies that bring affordable, reliable power to communities.
Climate Change
Businesses advancing climate adaptation and carbon management for the communities most at risk.
Waste & Circularity
Preventing, reusing, recycling and recovering value from waste — turning the circular economy into livelihoods.
Water & Sanitation
Planning, designing and optimizing drinking water, wastewater and recycled water systems.
Oceans & Landscapes
Restoring the landscapes and waters that communities depend on through better stewardship.
Anything you can spare is well spent.
Every contribution helps a grassroots enterprise create jobs, feed families, and strengthen its community. Be part of their success story.
Carefree Hydroponics Farm Center
Growing more food with less land and water.
The story
On the outskirts of Thika, Carefree Hydroponics Farm Center is proving that the future of Kenyan farming doesn't need more land — it needs better technology. Using hydroponic systems, the team grows vegetables and fodder with up to 90% less water than conventional farming, on a fraction of the land, all year round.
Demand from local households, schools and hotels already outstrips what the farm can supply. The team also trains neighbouring farmers in hydroponic techniques, multiplying the impact of every system installed.
What the funds will unlock
Contributions will expand the greenhouse capacity, install additional hydroponic units, and fund the training program for smallholder farmers in Kiambu County — creating jobs and putting affordable, nutritious food on more tables.
Why it matters
Climate change is making rain-fed agriculture less reliable every season. Hydroponics offers a resilient path forward — and Carefree wants to make sure smallholders aren't left behind.
Every contribution is a vote of confidence.
Haba na haba, hujaza kibaba — little by little fills the pot.
Back More CampaignsSeven Effects Enterprises
Organizing organic smallholders to reach better markets.
The story
In Homa Bay County, hundreds of smallholder farmers grow excellent organic produce — but selling it individually, they have no bargaining power and lose much of their harvest's value to middlemen. Seven Effects Enterprises brings these farmers together, aggregating their produce, certifying its quality, and negotiating directly with buyers.
The result: farmers earn more for the same harvest, buyers get reliable organic supply, and the community keeps the value it creates.
What the funds will unlock
Contributions will fund aggregation and cold-storage infrastructure, organic certification for member farmers, and transport to reach higher-value markets in Kisumu and Nairobi.
Why it matters
When smallholders organize, poverty falls. Every shilling contributed strengthens a farmer-owned enterprise that keeps wealth in the community that produces it.
Every contribution is a vote of confidence.
Haba na haba, hujaza kibaba — little by little fills the pot.
Back More CampaignsKamida Enterprises Limited
Unlocking the potential of sunflower for food security and rural incomes.
The story
Kenya imports most of its edible oil — while counties like Migori have ideal conditions for growing sunflower. Kamida Enterprises Limited is building the local sunflower value chain: contracting smallholder farmers to grow, processing the seed into cooking oil locally, and selling the by-product as animal feed.
Every step that happens locally is income that stays local — for farmers, factory workers, transporters and traders.
What the funds will unlock
Contributions will fund certified sunflower seed for contracted farmers, expand the oil-pressing capacity, and establish quality testing so Kamida's oil can reach formal retail markets.
Why it matters
Import substitution in edible oils means national food security and rural jobs at once — exactly the kind of shared value this Foundation exists to unlock.
Every contribution is a vote of confidence.
Haba na haba, hujaza kibaba — little by little fills the pot.
Back More CampaignsA Pan-African catalyst for shared value.
Shared Value Foundation exists because economic growth alone does not guarantee shared prosperity. We work where profit meets purpose — in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Nigeria — so that markets work for the communities the economy too often leaves behind.
Our Mission
To catalyse business models that align profit and purpose — strengthening value chains, equipping local entrepreneurs, engaging young people and extending digital inclusion so that economic growth lifts entire communities.
Our Vision
An Africa where every community enterprise has the markets, capital, skills and technology it needs — and where prosperity is created with communities, not just around them.
Our Promise
Proof, not promises. Every program is monitored against measurable outcomes and reported back to the communities and funders who make our work possible.
The principles behind every program.
Community First
Communities are partners and co-designers of our work — never beneficiaries on the sidelines of it.
Integrity
Transparent finances, independent governance and honest reporting — even when results fall short of ambitions.
Partnership
Shared value is created together: with entrepreneurs, funders, governments, researchers and communities.
Innovation
We back disruptive ideas with the potential to reach scale — from hydroponics to AI-enabled market data.
Sustainability
Climate-smart by default. Our enterprises grow incomes while protecting the resources communities depend on.
Evidence
Data drives decisions. We measure what matters and share what we learn across the continent.
How we work, step by step.
01 · Listen & Diagnose
We start in the community — mapping the market system, the constraints and the opportunities with the people who live them.
02 · Co-design
Solutions are designed with entrepreneurs and partners, matched to one of our four solution areas.
03 · Invest & Accompany
Through accelerators, advisory and crowdfunding we mobilize the capital and capacity each enterprise needs to grow.
04 · Measure & Share
Outcomes are measured, reported and fed back — so each cohort starts smarter than the last.
Independently governed, publicly accountable.
Board Oversight
An independent board with a published constitution and conflict-of-interest policy oversees strategy and finances.
Audited Accounts
Annual reports and audited financial statements are published every year. View reports →
Registration
A registered non-profit organization · Reg. No. [insert registration number].
Safeguarding
Child protection, anti-fraud and data-protection policies apply across all five countries of operation.
Build the next chapter with us.
Partner with us, back an enterprise, or support our mission directly.
Impact we measure and report.
Every program is monitored against measurable outcomes, reported back to communities and funders alike. This dashboard updates as our annual reporting cycle completes.
Community capital, tracked in public.
Live figures from our crowdfunding platform — every campaign reports its progress openly.
53+ campaigns
Community enterprises backed through the platform since launch.
KES 4.8M+ mobilized
Raised directly from individual supporters for community enterprises.
1,200+ supporters
Individuals giving across Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria and the diaspora.
Economic, social and environmental — measured together.
Economic
Working capital mobilized, enterprises strengthened, jobs created and incomes raised across value chains — from farm gate to factory floor.
Social
Households reached, young people engaged in leadership and enterprise, and institutions made more responsive to the people they serve.
Environmental
Water saved through climate-smart agriculture, clean energy enabled, waste recovered, and landscapes restored.
Figures are drawn from current crowdfunding and program data; audited annual-report figures (livelihoods improved, jobs created, clean-energy installations, tonnes CO₂e avoided) are added as each reporting cycle completes.
Advancing the Global Goals.
Our solutions contribute directly to nine Sustainable Development Goals: No Poverty (1) · Zero Hunger (2) · Gender Equality (5) · Affordable & Clean Energy (7) · Decent Work (8) · Industry & Innovation (9) · Reduced Inequalities (10) · Responsible Consumption (12) · Climate Action (13).
Partnerships that create shared value.
No single organization can transform a market system alone. We work with corporates, development partners, governments, universities and volunteers across Africa — each bringing what the others cannot. Find your category below and express your interest; your message goes straight to our team with your partner type attached.
Choose your category — each form reaches the right team.
Every form is specific to your partner type and includes a field for your website, so we can learn about you before we reply.
Corporate Partners
Source from our value chains, match crowdfunding campaigns, sponsor accelerator cohorts and lend technical expertise through employee volunteering.
Development Partners
Co-fund programs, commission research and scale what works across the five countries where we operate.
Government & Public Sector
Align programs with county and national development plans — from agriculture extension to youth employment.
Academic & Research
Evaluate impact, strengthen our evidence base and bring student talent into community enterprises.
Volunteers
Lend your skills — finance, agronomy, design, data, storytelling — to community enterprises for a few hours a month, remotely or in country.
Ways to plug in this year.
Match a Campaign
Pledge matching funds that unlock when a crowdfunding campaign reaches 50% of its target — doubling every supporter's shilling, franc, kwacha or naira.
See live campaigns →Co-fund an Accelerator Cohort
Sponsor a Pre-Accelerator or Accelerator cohort and follow the same enterprises from idea to investment-readiness.
Technical Advisory
Second specialists — finance, agronomy, logistics, marketing — to work directly with community enterprises.
Digital Inclusion
Bring connectivity, devices, data and AI capability to organizations and enterprises left out of digital transformation.
Let's design a partnership around your goals.
Tell us what success looks like for you — we'll bring the enterprises, the evidence and the communities.
Reports & publications.
Everything we learn, we share — annual reports, audited accounts, case studies and research from the field across Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Nigeria.
Annual Report
Programs, outcomes and financials for the year — reported against the targets we set ourselves.
Request a copy →Audited Financial Statements
Independent audit of our accounts, published annually as part of our governance commitments.
Request a copy →Case Studies
Deep dives on individual enterprises — what worked, what didn't, and what the next cohort learns from it.
Request a copy →Research Briefs
Findings on inclusive value chains, youth enterprise and digital inclusion across our five countries.
Request a copy →Insights & stories.
Farming with 90% less water
How hydroponic systems are changing what's possible on small plots — and training the farmers next door.
Read the campaign →Organic, certified, connected
Smallholders organizing for certification and better markets — aggregation as a path to higher incomes.
Read the campaign →The case for local sunflower oil
Africa imports much of its edible oil. Local presses — and the farmers behind them — are part of the answer.
Read the campaign →Partner, volunteer or build a career.
There's a place for everyone in this work. Whether you're an organization exploring a partnership or an individual offering your time and skills, tell us how you'd like to help and our team will be in touch.
Partner with us
Corporates, funders, governments and universities — bring what others can't. See the ways to collaborate →.
Volunteer
Lend your skills — finance, agronomy, design, data, storytelling — to community enterprises for a few hours a month, remotely or in country.
Careers
Join a Pan-African team of practitioners. Tell us below and we'll keep you in mind as open roles come up.
Register your enterprise
Run a community enterprise in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia or Nigeria? Apply to join the next accelerator cohort. Start an application →
Tell us how you'd like to help.
Fill in the form and our team will reach out. This is for getting involved — there's no payment step.
For partners
Corporates, funders, governments and universities — see the ways to collaborate → before you reach out, or just tell us your goals here.
For volunteers
Lend a few hours a month, remotely or in country. Finance, agronomy, design, data and storytelling skills are always in demand.
Email us directly
Prefer email? Write to info@sharedvaluesfoundation.org →
Little by little fills the pot.
Haba na haba, hujaza kibaba. Whatever you bring — time, skills or an idea — it counts.
Let's start a conversation.
Whether you want to give, partner, volunteer, register an enterprise or just learn more — we'd love to hear from you.
info@sharedvaluesfoundation.org
We aim to reply within two business days.
Where we work
Kenya · Rwanda · Uganda · Zambia · Nigeria
See the map →
Follow us
Donate now.
Tell us about your gift and we'll confirm it by email with secure M-Pesa or card payment details. Every shilling, kwacha, franc and naira backs a community enterprise.
Haba na haba, hujaza kibaba.
Little by little fills the pot — across Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Nigeria.
Explore Live Campaigns