OUR PARTNERS
Partnerships are crucial to the success of the Toothpick Project. By creating strong international partners, we are able to form an experienced team of advisors.
WELTHUNGERHILFE
.jpg)
Welthungerhilfe (WHH) came onboard with the Toothpick Project in 2017. As one of the four lead stakeholders of the Toothpick Company Limited in Kenya, the WHH Secretary General sits on the board of directors and the Kenya Country Director serves as the board chair. As part of a growing movement in sustainable social enterprise efforts, The Toothpick Company was WHH's first social enterprise investment, setting the precedent for WHH to invest in other social enterprise ventures.
KALRO
Kenya Agriculture Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), the Kenyan government's agricultural research center, houses the Toothpick Project's laboratory. KALRO has been instrumental in the efficacy trials and manufacturing, remaining a strong scientific partner in Kenya for a decade.
.png)
LIBERTY INITIATORS NETWORK
_JPG.jpg)
Liberty Initiators Network (LIN), founded by Florence Oyosi, has worked closely with the Toothpick Project from 2008 to today. Oyosi was instrumental in developing the toothpick distribution mechanism and she led the Gates Foundation proof-of-concept trials on 500 LIN farms (coordinating a team of 27 LIN implementers). LIN has a network of roughly 1,200 farmers that get trained on improved agricultural techniques.
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
.jpg)
Montana State University, home to Dr. David Sands, is where all of the initial research was conducted. The 2018 Striga training, with 12 scientists from sub-Saharan Africa, was held in the Sands lab at the university.
