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Creating Shared Value Prize winners

We have been awarding the Creating Shared Value Prize since 2010. Learn how the winners and runners-up from previous years have invested the prize money and benefited from the collaboration with Nestlé.


The 2016 winners

We received 450 entries for the CSV Prize in 2016, the fourth time we made such an award. Applications were thoroughly screened by external and internal experts, and the CSV Council. The winner and runner-up were announced at the CSV Forum in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in June 2016.

Winner: Agro-Hub, Cameroon

Helping cassava farmers gain access to markets

Agro-Hub is an agricultural production and marketing agency in south-west Cameroon, working to connect smallholder farmers with sustainable markets.

It has built a small integrated factory to transform cassava, a staple crop in Cameroon, into starch and garri, a type of tapioca, and sell these value-added goods to consumers through its own fresh food store (Agro-Mart). So far, the agency has helped more than 700 farmers increase productivity and income as they build long-term sustainable relationships with buyers.

Agro-Hub received a prize of CHF 300 000, which it intends to use for upgrading its cassava processing facilities. This increase in production capacity will allow it to support more farmers, and contribute to improved food security and living conditions.

“At the beginning, the production processes were carried out manually, but the Nestlé CSV Prize will help us in establishing a modern, integrated starch and garri factory. With this factory, we will be able to reduce the production process to one day or a few hours, potentially increasing our production to 10 tons of starch per week.”

Atem Ernest Lefu, Co-Founder and CEO, Agro-Hub


Watch a short video about Agro-Hub’s work

In pictures

Flickr photo gallery 

Runner-up: Natural Extracts Industries (NEI), Tanzania

Pioneering the sustainable extraction of vanilla

Natural Extracts Industries, a social enterprise from Tanzania, was selected as the 2016 CSV Prize runner-up for pioneering the sustainable production of natural flavour extracts from vanilla, cacao and orange.

Working with farmers and co-operatives, NEI helps build local capacity through sustainable agricultural practices such as agroforestry, intercropping, drip irrigation and composting. It has also developed manufacturing operations that add value to the products supplied by smallholder farmers.

NEI has invested the CHF 200 000 prize money to expand its network of smallholder farmers and maintain the subsidy scheme it introduced to reduce barriers to entry.

“Our business model is predicated on creating value for business and community alike. On the business front, we offer customers a natural product that follows the global clean-label trend. And for the community, the incremental income received by farmers enables women and youths to succeed without having to migrate to urban centres, where they may not even find employment. The Nestlé CSV Prize will bring us additional financial strength and credibility.”

Juan Guardado, Co-Founder, Natural Extracts Industries


Watch a short video about NEI’s work

In pictures

Flickr photo gallery 


  • 2014 winner: Honey Care Africa, South Sudan

    A sweeter South Sudan

    Honey Care Africa, a fair trade honey company, provides opportunities for thousands of rural smallholder farmers to generate additional income by helping them become beekeepers. It aims to create a commercial, efficient value chain for honey by training smallholder producers, organising them in networks (SWARM Clusters) and guaranteeing a market for their honey at fair prices, including a ‘base of the pyramid’ mass market for single servings of honey.

    In pictures

    2014 winner South Sudan 

    Find out more: Honey Care Africa website

    2014 runner-up: MSABI, Tanzania

    True Life Water Point

    MSABI is a not-for-profit organisation that runs rural water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes in Tanzania. These include water points, sanitation, participatory education, and ceramic water filters, which are tailored to meet the specific needs of local communities.

    In pictures

    2014 runner-up Tanzania 

    Find out more: MSABI website

    2014 runner-up: Sanergy, Kenya

    Sustainable sanitation in Africa’s informal settlements

    Sanergy is a social enterprise that manufactures and franchises small-scale high-quality sanitation facilities to local micro-entrepreneurs, collects and removes human waste from the community and converts it into high-value by-products such as fertilizer and energy.

    In pictures

    2014 runner-up Kenya 

    Find out more: Sanergy website


  • 2012 winner: Fundación Paraguaya, Paraguay

    Self-sufficient agricultural school model

    Fundación Paraguaya sets up agricultural schools in poor rural areas of Paraguay, enabling students to develop the entrepreneurial and practical skills they need to lift themselves out of poverty. The non-profit organisation works with each school to identify suitable micro-businesses to set up (milk and egg production, organic gardening, beekeeping) and provides students with hands-on training. The money raised covers the schools’ operating costs without the need for government funding. The Nestlé CSV Prize helped fund a new school in San Pedro, the fourth to be set up by Fundación Paraguaya.

    In pictures

    2012 winner Paraguay 

    Find out more: Fundación Paraguaya website

    2012 runner-up: arcenciel, Lebanon

    Boosting sustainable agriculture

    arcenciel is a Lebanese not-for-profit organisation running programmes related to agriculture, employment, environment, health, rehabilitation, social and youth. Wataneh, the Lebanese sustainable agriculture network, was launched in 2009 to improve the sustainability and the competitiveness of Lebanese agriculture throughout the value chain. Initially, farmers are helped to improve their yields and the variety of crops produced, and to reduce the use of chemicals while increasing the use of environmentally friendly techniques and improving their income.

    Find out more: arcenciel website

    2012 runner-up: Excellent Development, UK

    Building sand dams

    Excellent Development, a UK-based not-for-profit organisation, works with local partners in Kenya to support rural communities in drylands to build sand dams, which provide clean water for life and the opportunity to grow more food to eat and sell. The organisation works with local communities, organised in self-help groups, to identify sections of local rivers where sand dams can be built. The community invests at least 30% of the resources needed to complete a concrete sand dam.

    Find out more: Excellent Development website