ABOUT RIJONA

Building more value from neem.

Rijona Biochemicals and Bodycare Ltd is a Ghanaian company developing neem-based solutions across personal care, agriculture and agricultural production.

Our work is built around a simple idea: resources already present within African communities can create far greater value when science, enterprise, product development and local knowledge are brought together.

Neem Innovation Agriculture Personal Care Local Value Creation

GHANA Neem-powered innovation

OUR STORY

A familiar tree. A much bigger possibility.

Rijona was established around the potential of neem — a resource that grows widely across Ghana but remains underused across many local value chains.

We saw an opportunity to move beyond treating neem as simply a tree and instead build products, production systems, local supply networks and new economic opportunities around it.

That idea now connects personal care, agricultural inputs, research, farming, processing and community sourcing within one growing business ecosystem.

OUR BEGINNINGS

How Rijona began.

The name Rijona means “happiness” — a reflection of the original idea behind the company: using locally available resources to create products and opportunities that improve everyday life.

Rijona Biochemicals and Bodycare Ltd was founded in 2021 by Azungah Haruna Rayart, John Bananbo An-gangmwini, Khadija Abdul Razak and Doris Kwabi.

The founders came together around a shared belief that neem, a plant long known and widely available across Ghana, could be developed into much more than a traditional household resource.

From the beginning, the idea was to combine indigenous knowledge with modern product development and research, exploring how neem could contribute to personal care, agriculture, health, environmental applications and local economic opportunity.

Those early experiments and research laid the foundation for what Rijona is becoming today — a connected business working across personal care, agricultural inputs, farming, research, local sourcing and production.

Rijona founders presenting and pitching the business

THE EARLY JOURNEY Sharing the Rijona idea and building the vision.

OUR JOURNEY

From an idea around neem to a growing portfolio.

2021

Rijona founded

The company was established around the idea of turning neem into practical products while creating greater local value from the resource.

2022

Kosmos Innovation Center

Rijona entered the Kosmos Innovation Center ecosystem, gaining mentorship, business-development support and greater exposure to Ghana's entrepreneurship and agricultural innovation community.

2023

Agricultural innovation expanded

Rijona progressed through the AgriTech Challenge Pro journey as the company expanded its focus from personal care into agricultural applications of neem.

2024

Nourishnest enters the market

Years of formulation and product development led to the growth of Nourishnest and the commercialisation of Rijona's neem-based personal-care products.

TODAY

A broader Rijona ecosystem

Rijona now works across Nourishnest, AgriNeemix and Golden Coast Farms, supported by research, field testing, local sourcing and a growing neem value chain.

PERSONAL CARE Transforming neem into everyday wellbeing products.

Golden Coast Farms agricultural production

AGRICULTURE Connecting innovation with farming and production.

01 OUR MISSION

To transform neem and other local biological resources into practical solutions for personal care, agriculture and production, while creating value for farmers, communities and the wider environment.

02 OUR VISION

To build a leading African bio-based company that turns local resources into trusted products, stronger agricultural systems, new economic opportunities and lasting community value.

HOW RIJONA WORKS

One resource. A connected system of value.

Our different ventures are connected by the same underlying resource, research foundation and belief that more value can be created locally.

Source

Neem seeds and agricultural resources are sourced through local networks and communities.

→

Process

Neem is transformed into oil, cake and other usable materials for further product development.

→

Develop

Those materials become agricultural, personal-care and production solutions across the Rijona portfolio.

→

Create value

Products, research, farming and sourcing create wider economic and practical value around the neem resource.

OUR PORTFOLIO

Different ventures. One shared direction.

PERSONAL CARE

Care that begins with nature.

Neem-powered lotions, creams, mosquito-repellent products, oils, cleansing products and hair care developed under one recognisable identity.

Explore Nourishnest →

AGRICULTURE

Practical innovation for the farm.

Neem-based fertilizers, soil-nutrition products, crop-protection solutions and agricultural neem oil developed for farming applications.

Explore AgriNeemix →

FARMING & PRODUCTION

Where production meets the wider business.

Agricultural production, field experience and value-chain activity connected to Rijona through Golden Coast Farms.

Explore Golden Coast Farms →

Rijona agricultural community and local sourcing

LOCAL VALUE CREATION

Innovation should create value beyond the product.

Rijona's neem work is connected to local sourcing, farmer engagement and rural livelihoods. Neem seeds that may otherwise have little commercial value can become part of a larger production and value-creation system.

Our sourcing network now works with more than 160 women involved in neem-seed collection, creating an additional income opportunity while helping build a more reliable raw-material supply chain.

Explore Community Impact →

160+ Women in the neem-seed sourcing network

3 Connected portfolio ventures

Neem One resource creating value across multiple sectors

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Products shaped by testing, evidence and field experience.

Rijona's product development combines formulation, testing and practical feedback. In agriculture, this includes work on nitrogen retention, soil health, phosphorus nutrition and botanical crop protection.

Our neem-coated urea testing has recorded reductions in nitrogen losses of up to 50% and crop-yield improvements of up to 30% under tested conditions.

Research & Innovation → Field Trials

50% Up to reduction in nitrogen losses

30% Up to crop-yield improvement

WHAT GUIDES US

How we think about building Rijona.

Useful innovation

Products should solve a real problem and make sense in the environments where they will be used.

Local value

Resources found within our communities should create more economic value within those communities.

Evidence before scale

Testing, learning and refinement should guide how products move from an idea toward wider use.

Connected growth

Personal care, agriculture, production and sourcing are designed to reinforce one another rather than operate in isolation.

BUILDING FROM GHANA

Turning local resources into products, knowledge and opportunity.

Contact Rijona Explore Our Research