What is the name of your organization?
Cherehani Africa Ltd
What is the name of your solution?
Cherehani Labs
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Solar-powered veterinary labs delivering AI diagnostics, vaccines, and verifiable livestock health data for smallholder farmers in rural areas.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Nairobi, Kenya
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Kenya
What type of organization is your solution team?
Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Despite Africa hosting about 80% of global livestock keepers, the region produces only around 4% of global meat and milk, reflecting a major productivity gap driven by weak animal health systems. Smallholder farmers in rural sub-Saharan Africa, many earning less than $5 a day, depend heavily on livestock for nutrition, income, and savings. However, limited access to animal vaccines and veterinary diagnostic services leads to high livestock mortality, low productivity, and persistent income insecurity.
A key constraint is the lack of accessible veterinary laboratories in rural areas where most farmers are located. Research shows that 52% of veterinarians cite long distances to laboratories as a major barrier to submitting diagnostic samples (Francis, 2022). This results in delayed or non-targeted treatments, worsening disease outcomes and increasing preventable losses.
These gaps also create significant financial exclusion. Without reliable animal health data, financial institutions and insurers struggle to assess herd risk, limiting access to credit and livestock insurance for smallholder farmers. As a result, farmers remain trapped in low productivity cycles with limited investment in herd health and resilience.
What is your solution?
Cherehani Labs is building a network of solar-powered veterinary laboratories housed in repurposed shipping containers to bring AI-powered diagnostics, vaccines, and feed testing closer to underserved smallholder farmers. Our solution strengthens resilience by decentralizing veterinary services and making them affordable, accessible, and data-driven. Beyond diagnostics, we developed a digital livestock health certification platform that enables financial institutions, insurers, cooperatives, and farmer groups to verify animal health during loan appraisal and risk assessment. This innovation aims to unlock livestock-related financing by reducing uncertainty and improving trust in farmer data.
Our model uses trained local veterinarians to collect samples directly from farms and submit them to nearby satellite laboratories for rapid analysis. Results are translated into local languages and delivered through a mobile platform, enabling faster treatment decisions and disease prevention. The labs are fully solar-powered, making them operational even in remote off-grid communities.
Together, the physical labs and digital platform create an integrated system that improves animal health services and enables financial inclusion for smallholder farmers.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our primary targets are smallholder farmers and veterinarians living in rural areas. The smallholder farmers in rural areas depend on livestock for nutrition, income, and wealth storage, however, poor infrastructure and a lack of veterinary laboratory services hinder disease diagnosis, leading to low productivity and high mortality. Misaligned treatments further contribute to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), making medications ineffective. Insurance and credit companies also struggle to build around their assets - livestock.
Rural veterinarians often diagnose based on symptoms alone, without lab tests on blood, milk, or waste, increasing misdiagnosis risks. Many also struggle to access ongoing training due to financial and time constraints, limiting their adoption of advanced treatment methods.
