Seeds of Change: Women Entrepreneurs Shaping Equitable Food and Health Futures with Support from Bayer Foundation and Impact Hub

Salma Tammam, Founder & CEO of Reme-D

In a world where millions still lack access to basic healthcare and nutritious food, change is being written not in policy papers or boardrooms, but by women entrepreneurs building solutions at the heart of their communities. This year, five women from Egypt, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ghana, and Sudan have been recognized as the 2025 Bayer Foundation Women Entrepreneurs Award, in partnership with the Impact Hub Network

“Since its inception in 2021, the Bayer Foundation Women Entrepreneurs Award has supported 55 exceptional women entrepreneurs advancing innovative solutions in health and food security across more than 25 countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. These changemakers are driving meaningful impact, improving access to healthcare and enhancing food systems for millions of patients, farmers, and consumers. By investing in women-led innovation, the program generates a powerful ripple effect, strengthening underserved communities and fostering inclusive, sustainable development worldwide,” said Chitkala Kalidas, Executive Director of Bayer Foundation.

One of these changemakers is Salma Tammam from Egypt, a nanotechnology researcher turned health entrepreneur who founded REME-D to produce affordable, locally manufactured molecular diagnostics. For Salma, diagnostics are the gateway to treatment, and without them, people remain invisible to the health system

Her venture now serves 92 hospitals and laboratories across Egypt, providing tests to over 50,000 patients each month, while also exporting to Sudan, Iraq, and Kenya. Expansion into Nigeria and Libya is already on the horizon, with a vision of ensuring that African laboratories are not just users but creators of diagnostic technology.

In Zimbabwe, Chiedza Mushawedu has brought dignity and equity to healthcare through Zimbos Abantu Healthcare on Wheels. For many families, access to primary care is often determined by the distance to the nearest clinic, which can be 15 kilometers away. Chiedza decided to reverse that equation, bringing solar-powered mobile clinics directly into underserved settlements in Harare and Bulawayo. To date, the initiative has reached over 108,000 patients while also creating 48 full-time jobs. More recently, she launched “Mukando weHwutano,” an affordable micro-health insurance scheme enabling low-income households to seek care without financial strain. For Chiedza, healthcare is not a privilege based on geography, but a right for all.

Chiedza Mushawedu, Co-founder & CEO of Zimbos Abantu Healthcare on Wheels

Faith Koki of Kenya is tackling food security head-on with Silo Africa Networks. In a country where 12 million bags of grain were lost between 2023 and 2024 due to poor storage, her SmartSilo™ innovation provides a solar-powered, airtight, chemical-free storage solution equipped with sensors that track temperature, moisture, and carbon dioxide levels. This simple yet powerful system reduces spoilage by up to 40% and increases crop productivity by 45%. By pairing the technology with her Kuza Trading Hub, Faith connects farmers directly to premium buyers and helps them unlock access to credit through blockchain-backed warehouse receipts. In her words, when farmers can store safely, they can finally sell on their own terms.

Faith Koki, Founder and CEO of Smart Silo Africa Network

In Ghana, Anaporka Adazabra is reimagining farming through Farmio Limited. By integrating solar-powered greenhouses, drip irrigation systems, and real-time monitoring tools, she helps smallholder farmers produce more with less. Farmio’s digital SuperApp further enables farmers to manage the full cycle of production, from planning and planting to market access and finance, reducing uncertainty while increasing yields. Anaporka’s work is as much about resilience as it is about growth, ensuring that farmers can weather climate unpredictability and transform agriculture into a path toward long-term economic freedom.

Anaporka Adazabra, Founder & CEO of Farmio Limited

Dr. Alaa Salih Hamadto, Founder & CEO of Solar Foods

Meanwhile, in Sudan, Dr. Alaa Salih Hamadto has Solar Foods , an enterprise blending tradition with technology to address food waste and hunger. Drawing on solar drying, one of the oldest preservation techniques, and enhancing it with IoT-enabled sensors, her innovation enables the preservation of vegetables, fruits, and even meats without the need for refrigeration or chemicals. Since the war of April 2023, Solar Foods has worked with more than 7,000 farmers, offering training, sustainable sourcing, and fair-trade partnerships that create stable incomes while ensuring food reaches communities across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. For Alaa, resilience means ensuring communities can feed themselves even in the most difficult of crises.

While their sectors differ, from biotech to agritech, from mobile healthcare to renewable-powered food systems, these five women share a common approach: solutions that are locally anchored yet globally scalable, and which place dignity, sustainability, and equity at the center. Through the Bayer Foundation Women Entrepreneurs Award and the Impact Hub Network, they have not only gained funding and mentorship but also access to a global community that amplifies their impact and accelerates their growth.

The collaboration between Bayer Foundation and Impact Hub has been instrumental in unlocking this potential. Together, they are demonstrating that the future of health and food security will not be delivered by one innovation alone, but by many, each rooted in the realities of the people it serves. In a time when global crises can feel overwhelming, the work of these five women is a reminder that meaningful change is not only possible, it is already happening.

About Bayer Foundation   

Bayer Foundation drives social innovation by supporting entrepreneurs and organisations focused on health and food security, creating impactful ecosystems for underserved communities.

About Impact Hub

Impact Hub is a global network of 120+ hubs driving inclusive, sustainable innovation through entrepreneurship, supporting 500,000+ Impact Makers building better businesses for people and the planet.