Mehezaa Adjo Ida Solitoke

Ida Solitoke is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Baobaby, a social startup committed to combating baby malnutrition in Togo. Her journey with Baobaby was inspired by her personal struggles to afford milk-based formulas while lacking sufficient breastmilk to feed her own baby. Since 2020, Baobaby has been impacting local communities in Togo by producing plant-based baby formulas using climate-resilient crops sourced from local female farmers.

Twelve years ago, prior to Baobaby, Ida founded Soligrain, a consulting firm that facilitated the creation of 145 smallholder farmers’ cooperatives, empowering young female farmers, particularly single mothers. Through this initiative, she improved fair market access for 2,500 female farmers. With Baobaby, Ida harnesses the transformative potential of these female farmers through resilient farming and innovative processes that take food from local farms to baby bottles. By saving 30,000 children from stunting, Baobaby contributes to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2 Ending Hunger and 3 Good Health and Wellbeing. By empowering female farmers through climate-resilient farming, Baobaby also contributes to SDG 5 Gender Equality and 13 Climate Action.

With a bachelor’s in business administration, Ida brings over a decade of experience supporting rural development initiatives. She believes that all children should grow up in good conditions and have access to good nutrition regardless of their race and social background. Her accolades include being named Social Agri-Entrepreneur of the Year in Togo in 2022, a 2023 Fellow of the US-based incubator Halcyon, and a winner of the 2024 FINCA Ventures Prize in Washington D.C.