Nairobi, Kenya  ·  Chapati & egg programme

A clean flame,
a fair wage,
every single day.

We set up young people and women with LPG-powered chapati and egg kitchens on Nairobi's roadsides — the equipment, the stock, the training — and share the revenue with them when the day closes.

See the unit economics → The KSh 14.6M pilot
In partnership with·Synergetic Consulting Group
A Samaki Mtaani vendor at her LPG chapati station under a branded umbrella
Pilot kitchen · Nairobi · Oct 2026
Target vendor take-home · month
KSh 0
KSh0

Full kitchen kit per vendor — carried by the programme, not by her.

0

Chapatis cooked per vendor per day on a single LPG burner.

0

Charcoal, firewood or kerosene used at the cooking point.

0

Micro-vendors across 12 peri-urban chapters at full roll-out.

01   Why gas, why chapati

Nairobi already eats chapati on the street. We're changing what it's cooked on — and who owns the margin.

Roadside chapati is a daily staple with steady demand. Most of it is cooked over charcoal by vendors working without capital, stock credit or a reliable wage. We fix all three at once.

The usual stall Before

  • FuelCharcoal jiko — smoke at face height for ten hours a day
  • CapitalVendor buys her own frame, pan and fuel up front
  • StockBought daily in small lots, at retail prices
  • IncomeUnpredictable; nothing recorded, nothing to borrow against
  • SupportNone. She's on her own

A Samaki Mtaani kitchen After

  • FuelTopGas 6 kg LPG cylinder, regulator and single burner — clean at the point of use
  • CapitalKSh 19,900 kit issued at no cost to the vendor
  • StockFlour, oil, eggs and gas issued every morning from the spoke
  • IncomeRevenue shared at every daily close; sales logged on the platform
  • SupportThree-day training, a group of 25 peers, a superintendent who visits
3.2M

deaths a year worldwide are linked to household air pollution from cooking with polluting fuels. Moving roadside kitchens to LPG takes that smoke out of the working day of the women who cook for a living.

Source — World Health Organization, Household air pollution fact sheet
Already on the street

These aren't renders. The pilot kitchens are already trading in Nairobi, with TopGas cylinders, branded frames and handwritten price cards.

TopGas cylinder inside the frame with price card
01Chapati @ 20, M-Pesa number on the card, TopGas underneath
Vendor plating food at her cart
02Plating at the display cart
Vendor rolling chapati dough
03Rolling dough for the breakfast rush
Visitors tasting at a Samaki Mtaani kitchen
04Partners and visitors tasting at a pilot kitchen
Two Samaki Mtaani kitchens side by side
05Two kitchens, one pitch
Samaki Mtaani team with a vendor and visitors
06Team, vendor and visiting partners on site
01 / 06
02   A vendor's day

From the 5am stock-take to the evening close. Drag through it.

Every day runs on the same rhythm, so every day can be measured. That's what makes this fundable — and repeatable across 6,000 kitchens.

05:00

Play the day, or drag the marker
03   The kit

Nine items. One fixed setup. Zero out of pocket.

Every vendor starts with the same kitchen, costed line by line. Hover any line for what it's for.

Branded Samaki Mtaani cooking frame with TopGas cylinder and display cart 02TopGas 6 kg cylinder 01Vending frame 05Display cart on wheels
Fig. 1 — A pilot kitchen as issuedNairobi, 2026
Total, per vendor KSh 19,900

Roughly US$154 per kitchen. The kit stays with the programme; the vendor keeps the income. Stock is replenished daily from the nearest spoke.

04   One kitchen, one day

Where every shilling of a day's sales goes. Move the numbers.

Defaults are our baseline plan: 96 chapatis and 15 eggs a day, 26 trading days a month. Try a slow day. Try a good one.

96
15
26
Day's sales
KSh 2,370
Vendor take-home · monthKSh 21,372

≈ US$166

Operating margin · dayKSh 573

24% of sales — funds spokes, supervision and reinvestment

Baseline per-vendor P&L from the Samaki Mtaani operating plan. Vendor share = 34.7% of sales. LPG at one 6 kg cylinder (KSh 900) per 6 trading days. KSh 129 ≈ US$1.

05   How it scales

One chapter proves it. Twelve chapters repeat it.

Every dot below is one kitchen. Vendors work in groups of 25, groups of 20 form a chapter, and each chapter copies the same structure and economics.

500
kitchens operating
Operating 12 chapters × 20 groups × 25 vendors
06   What we measure

Outcomes we report on, not just promise.

Every sale is logged; every superintendent visit is GPS- and photo-stamped. That gives funders indicator-level reporting without extra surveys.

5Gender equality

Women and young people in work they control

  • % vendors who are women / under 35
  • Vendor retention at 3, 6, 12 months
7Clean energy

Clean cooking at the point of sale

  • Kitchens cooking on LPG
  • Kg of LPG supplied per kitchen per month
8Decent work

Income that is recorded and regular

  • Monthly vendor take-home vs. KSh 21,400 target
  • Trading days per vendor per month
13Climate action

Less charcoal burnt in the city

  • Estimated charcoal displaced (kg)
  • Estimated tCO₂e avoided, independently reviewed
07   Partners

Three organisations, one kitchen.

Each partner holds the part of the programme they're best at — so the vendor only has to cook.

Samaki Mtaani
Implementing organisation

Samaki Mtaani

Recruits, trains and supervises vendors; runs the hub-and-spoke stock system and the daily revenue share.

  • 01Vendor recruitment & vetting
  • 02Three-day training programme
  • 03Daily operations & settlement
TopGas
Energy partner

TopGas

Supplies the clean fuel behind every kitchen — cylinders, regulators and a reliable refill chain into each spoke.

  • 016 kg cylinders & regulators
  • 02Weekly refill logistics
  • 03Gas-safety training for vendors
Advisory & assurance partner

Synergetic Consulting Group

Strengthens programme design, governance and reporting so funders get clean, comparable evidence.

  • 01Programme design & governance
  • 02Monitoring, evaluation & learning
  • 03Donor reporting & financial controls
Samaki Mtaani team on site with a pilot vendor and visiting partners
On site with a pilot vendor and visiting partners · Nairobi
The team
  • George IkuaSamaki Mtaani
  • Natasha WanyoikeSamaki Mtaani
  • Jane NabwireSamaki Mtaani
08   U.S. funding

Mama Hope 2026 LDA cohort. Eligible for U.S. grants.

Samaki Mtaani is a member of Mama Hope's 2026 Localisation Development Accelerator cohort. Through Mama Hope, a U.S. 501(c)(3) public charity, American funders can support our work with tax-deductible grants.

Samaki Mtaani is a Kenya-based community organisation and an active partner of Mama Hope, Inc. (EIN 26-0835534), a U.S. 501(c)(3) public charity. Mama Hope's IRS exemption has been in effect since August 31, 2007, and it is classed as a public charity under IRC §170(b)(1)(A)(vi). Contributions to Mama Hope are tax-deductible under IRC §170.

Mama Hope's most recent Form 990 (FY June 2024–May 2025) shows 87.19% public support. It also shows that Mama Hope already makes and monitors international grants to community-led organisations, which totalled $59,662 that year. U.S. foundations, corporations and individuals can make grants to Mama Hope in support of Samaki Mtaani's work.

The Localisation Development Accelerator

The LDA is Mama Hope's nine-month programme for leaders of community-based organisations. It covers strategic planning, finance, operations, monitoring, evaluation and learning, and communications.

“Ikua has proven to be an outstanding and reliable partner to Mama Hope. He consistently delivers high-quality work, communicates transparently, and approaches partnership with integrity.”

Vincent Mwangi · Co-Executive Director, Mama Hope · June 2026
  1. 01
    Write to us firstTell us the size and timing of your grant so we can coordinate with Mama Hope.
  2. 02
    Grant to Mama Hope, Inc.Make your grant to Mama Hope (EIN 26-0835534) in support of Samaki Mtaani's work.
  3. 03
    Receive reportingYou get Mama Hope's acknowledgement and our programme reporting.
09   Fund the pilot

Put the first 500 kitchens on gas.

KSh14.6M
≈ US$113,000 · 500 vendors · Chapter 01
Request the full proposal → Review the numbers
U.S. funder? Give tax-deductibly via Mama Hope  ·  Or write to us directly — info@samaki-mtaani.org
CapexKitchens, warehouse, spokes, training, facilitation11.9M
Week-one stock & month-one payrollFlour, oil, eggs, LPG and the operating team2.7M
Cost per kitchen fundedAll-in, pilot chapter29.2K