Friday, October 31, 2025
Innovation Ecosystem Tour
By the end of Friday, GIW 2025 will have moved from ideas in the conference room to real-world context, leaving lasting impressions and connections.
The Tour
Sites to Visit
The tour will be organized as a half-day excursion (approximately 5–6 hours) covering multiple sites. The tour circuits will include but not limited to the following:
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University & Polytechnics -
Local Farmers & Societies -
Agro-Processing Factories -
Innovation Hub & Youth -
Cultural or Culinary Stop
Kisii & Nyamira
University & polytechnics’ innovation and agribusiness centres.
Visits to local farmers’ cooperative societies & women/youth farming groups known for best practices.
Local agro-processing factories to see how value addition is done on the ground.
Innovation Hub & Youth Projects: A stop at Fie_Labs and other partner innovation hubs to meet incubated startups, see prototypes developed (including follow-up with hackathon winners), and discuss opportunities/challenges for entrepreneurs in rural areas.
A brief visit to community projects promoting indigenous crops to tie back to the local foods theme.
Innovation Tour
Logistics, Objective, & Outcomes
Each site visit will be hosted by representatives of that organization who will provide a guided tour and short briefing. The GIW organizers will arrange group transport (buses/vans) and coordinate the schedule to keep the tour on time. Participants will register in advance for the tour (with priority given to sponsors, out-of-town guests, national government and county officials and media, due to limited capacity).
The tour’s objective is to transform discussions into concrete next steps. Seeing real projects helps investors and policymakers identify areas to support. For example, an investor on the tour might decide to fund the scale-up of a visited enterprise; a county official might learn of a successful pilot to replicate. It also gives local innovators additional exposure.
A deeper appreciation among stakeholders of the region’s potential and needs. We expect that at least a few specific follow-up actions will emerge (e.g., a sponsor chooses a project to mentor or a policy-maker suggests inclusion of a showcased innovation in county programs). The tour will conclude with a debriefing session where participants share reflections and make pledges for post-event collaboration