Aduna, the Africa-inspired health food brand & social business is seeking to create a global market for African baobab fruit, which grows more abundantly in Nigeria than any other African country.
The company’s mission is to create demand for natural products from small-scale producers in Africa – starting with baobab. To this end, the company has beaten 2,500 companies to reach the Final 10 of Virgin’s “Pitch to Rich” competition, and needs Nigerians’ votes to win a NGN 77m marketing campaign, which they will use to Make Baobab Famous and create sustainable livelihoods for 10m households in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.
Baobab is a nutrient-dense fruit that grows in severely-deprived North Nigeria. Baobab trees are entirely community-owned & wild-harvested. There are thousands of communities in Northern Nigeria alone that can supply baobab fruit from a crop that is so abundant, it goes mainly to waste.
Aduna Co-Founder & MD Andrew Hunt said: “Aduna is already sourcing baobab from 1,100 women in Northern Ghana, with average annual income increasing from just NGN 2.300 to NGN 28.100 – this is transformative. We need Nigerians to take 10 seconds to vote for us so we can get Richard Branson’s backing to Make Baobab Famous and radically scale-up our work to reach Nigeria.”