2SCALE Thematic Papers Not By Technology and Money Alone | Page 11

2. A recipe for success:
The story of the
Banda-Borae women
processing soya kebab
By Alhassan Issahaku
and Rowland Aggor,
partnership facilitator
and trainer-mentor,
Ghana
Key themes: SME, Cluster development, Gender
Soya-Ghana PPP Summary
With the increasing
demand for healthy and
affordable proteins,
women’s processing
organisations are in the
lead of the partnership,
looking at penetrating
the market of soya-based
products. In this story, the authors focus on the women’s soya
processor organisation – following Rose, a strong leader,
as the central figure. It describes the skills developed by
the women through 2SCALE, especially cooperative and
leadership skills, but also their new insights into marketing.
This encouraged the women processors to develop close
links with a producers’ organisation to secure quality
raw material and thereby guarantee their new brand and
market outlet of nutritious soya kebab.
Triggered by the recent rise in soya bean production in
North-Eastern Ghana, Rose Mbo has become very enthusi-
astic about turning all those beans into delicious soya pro-
ducts. Rose, an energetic local business “champion”, has
worked hard to mobilise her colleague processors to form
the Cumoban women processors’ cooperative in Kpandai
town as part of the 2SCALE project. Prior to the project’s
intervention, women processors were few in number and
operated individually, processing limited volumes of soya
beans. But now after two years of support, Rose and her
colleagues are able to turn out large volumes of the unique
soya products at an affordable price.
11
Rose and the other women in her group had attracted the
support of 2SCALE through their business idea to strength-
en themselves by forming a processing cooperative. They
then improved their skills in soya processing and business
management to drive up their sales and the level of nutrition
in Kpandai and surrounding villages in Banda Borae district.
The soya kebab is a highly nutritious, delicious and cheap
meat substitute. It is similar in appearance and taste to
meat kebabs and is gaining in popularity, especially among
children and low income earners in the region.