About us

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Uhuru means “freedom” in the Kenyan dialect of Swahili.

Uhuru Botanicals began with Neo Chatyoka’s search for gentle skincare for her baby daughter Lulu, who suffered from eczema. When she could not find anything safe or suitable, she started making her own products using pure Shea Butter (Butyrospermum parkii) and African botanical oils.

Neo’s love of natural ingredients began much earlier during visits to her grandmother in the South African countryside. There, she learned about herbs, plants, and traditional preparations, watching creams and remedies being made using knowledge passed down through generations.

She chose the name Uhuru to reflect freedom from harsh, synthetic ingredients and a return to something more natural, intentional, and rooted in African heritage.

Through Uhuru Botanicals, Neo set out to share the true essence of Africa through plant-powered products inspired by tradition, nature, and care.

 
 

Our Mission

To become the leading academy for Plant-Based Formulation and Manufacturing in the UK, while building a global community of:

Skilled formulators
Confident founders
Women in manufacturing 

Neo Chatyoka, CEO & Founder

Rooted in Purpose

What began as a personal solution has grown into a wider mission.

Uhuru Botanicals combines:

African botanical heritage
modern formulation knowledge
and real manufacturing experience

to create products that are not only natural, but also safe, stable, and effective.

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Women Empowerment Through Sourcing

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At the heart of Uhuru Botanicals is a commitment to supporting women.

We source key ingredients from women’s cooperatives across:

Chad, Nigeria, South Africa, Morocco, Ghana, Zimbabwe

These partnerships help: create income opportunities for women support local communities preserve traditional knowledge
and build more transparent supply chains.

Women in Manufacturing

While women drive much of the beauty industry, they remain underrepresented in manufacturing.

Currently, women make up around 27% of the manufacturing workforce.

Through our work, education, and collaboration with government and industry, we are part of a wider mission to increase this to 35% by 2035.

We support this by:

training women in formulation
providing access to manufacturing knowledge
and encouraging women to move into production and ownership.

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