Young people
engaged in the
mushroom growing
business – Mushroom
Partnership, Ghana.
connections: Likie Ladies have the opportunity to network
with peers and other retailers and with women and men in
households. Most Likie Ladies had no training or previous
experience to start this door-to-door distribution work,
but their business attitude was the main criteria during
the selection process by GUTS Agro, with 2SCALE support.
For Yewegnesh, one of the micro-retailers, the major
change since her new job is the time and freedom she
gained to take care of her children. “It provided me with
financial independence, no matter how small it is. I now
earn between 40 to 100 ETB (€2 to €5) on average per day
depending on how much I can buy from GUTS, and I even
support my husband on days that he’s unable to work.” The
Likie Ladies also believe that their new businesses help
build their confidence and improve their social life. In early
2016, 50 women were running the Likie micro-franchise
distribution business in five cities in Ethiopia.
4.6 Promotion of Female
Entrepreneurship
Some challenges faced by women entrepreneurs are
common to their male counterparts: financing, marketing,
management, and globalization of the social and economic
environment. However, women face extra barriers because
of gender roles, social norms, and stereotypes. They have
lower productivity, accumulate productive assets more
slowly, and start their business with less social and working
capital. They have to combine business activities and family
responsibilities, which limits time for their business.
Fo stering women’s entrepreneurship and working with
successful female entrepreneurs is a strategy that makes
business sense and pays off in terms of social impact, as
described in the three cases below. All three entrepreneurs
have demonstrated through their achievements that women
can be credible business partners and leaders and serve
as role models for other females engaged in agribusiness,
showing outstanding qualities such as perseverance,
commitment, and “a nurturing attitude” that helps their
businesses grow. They promote diversity in their teams by
hiring more women and bringing in new points of views and
new ways of working. They are integral to the communities
by creating jobs, outsourcing to female suppliers, and
building their capacities to engage “in farming as a
business.” Finally, they have a vision, conduct projects that
benefit the community, and are inspiring examples for
women and the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Shalem Investments – Sorghum
Partnership, Kenya
Ruth Kinoti, managing director of Shalem Investments in
Kenya, is clear in her message: “A different mindset is an
important condition for supporting women’s entrepreneurship
and empowerment in the agro-food sector.” It makes business
sense: women have a lot of perseverance and a nurturing
attitude that help grow business over the years. “Men go for the
quick wins, but it does not work like that,” she says.
Promoting Diversity in Teams
Shalem Investments supplies mainly to agri-food processors
that produce food and beverages for human or animal
consumption. Its largest customer is East African Breweries.
In 2016, Shalem Investments employed seven people. As
it cannot currently afford highly specialized staff, young
university graduates were hired. Of the seven employees,
four are women and most of the staff is under the age of 35.
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