IWD 2019: Celebrating African Women in Agriculture

The International Women’s Day, annually marked on March 8th, is a worldwide event that celebrates women’s achievement while calling for gender equality. The theme of this year’s IWD, tagged ‘Better The Balance, Better The World’ aims to forge a more gender-balanced world, celebrate women’s achievement, to raise awareness against bias and to take action for equality.

Studies by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization show that throughout the world, women farmers control less land and make less use of fertilizers, less access to funds and modern technologies. Limited access to agricultural extension services prevent many women from adopting the technologies that would help them increase their yields.

In Africa, we seldom hear about the success and triumphs of women in agribusiness, yet they play a very significant role. Pushing for a gender-balanced world, we wish to celebrate these women doing exploits in the agricultural sector despite the numerous challenges.

Jamila Abass

CEO/Co-Founder M-Farm Kenya

Jamila is a software engineer, businesswoman and entrepreneur in Kenya. She is also the co-founder and chief executive officer of M-Farm Kenya Limited, an internet-based organization that helps farmers find the best farm implements, seeds, access to weather reports and market information.

M-Farm is a virtual co-operative for farmers in Kenya to help them reach buyers and access vital markets through SMS. Farmers in the same areas can share experiences, advice, solutions, and connect with each other to find more buyers. In 2013, she was elected for the Ashoka Fellowship, Aspen New Voices Fellow, and as Quartz Africa Innovator in 2015.

Kobanku Elizabeth Msibi

Founder/CEO Lejwe-Motho Primary Coop, South Africa

Msibi is the founder of the Lejwe-Motho Cooperative which comprises of five members who farm on half-hectare gardens. The main aim of the coop is to produce vegetables to eradicate food insecurity and poverty in households. The vegetables planted are carrots, Beetroot, spinach, cabbage, pepper, pumpkin, green beans and herbs.

Kobanku started the vegetable farming initiative after seeing a need among children who lived near her. She said that while the children would receive food via nutrition programmes at schools, there was often no food at home. In 2017, she won the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Female Entrepreneur Award as Best Subsistence Producer.

Mapeseka Dlamini

Green Sky Rooftop Garden South Africa

Dlamini, who runs the Green Sky Rooftop Garden, has one of the largest rooftop urban farms in South Africa which grows more than 3000 gourmet lettuce, herbs, peppers, cucumbers and basil plants using various hydroponic systems. She is transforming Johannesburg’s dead building spaces into commercial hydroponic farms. The resilient Dlamini quit her job as a chartered accountant to live out her passion of farming.

She is passionate about the transferring skills and empowering young women, Dlamini currently employs four female graduates who have expertise in horticulture and agriculture studies.

Hadia Gondji

Managing Director: Hadia Seed Production| Hadia Supermarket| Hadia Flowers, Ethiopia

Before anyone else was invested in seed production, the visionary Hadia purchased land and entered the grain trade. It was a big risk with a lot of challenges, but it paid off. Today, she is the proud owner of three separate but related businesses in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She owns a supermarket; Hadia Seed Production, an Agro Industry which produces hybrid seeds; and Hadia Flower and Vegetable which sells and exports produce like corn, sesame, soybeans, and teff grass.

When the government began privatizing farms, she bought 500 hectares of land and approached the Ministry of Agriculture to check if the private sector was going to be permitted to produce seeds. Despite the challenges of venturing into an unknown path, Hadia has become a pioneer in the transportation, agriculture and horticulture industries in Ethiopia.

She teaches farmers in Ethiopia on strategies for improving their yields free of charge. As president of the Ethiopian Women Exporters Association, she ensured increase in production of female farmers and improvement in exportation of coffee, fruits, flowers and vegetables. Hadia has plans to build a factory to produce packaged consumer goods such as juices, cereal, and tomato paste from locally sourced produce.

See also: Farmers Corner: Why You Should Visit the Farmers Market

Mosunmola Umoru

CEO Honeysuckles PTL Ventures | Farmshoppe

Mosunmola is a farmer and agribusiness entrepreneur. She founded Honeysuckles with the aim of selling processed agricultural produce to food certain chains and restaurants. Inadequate supply and low quality of food items prompted the move towards her own farm and food supply chain.

She oversees the development and operations of a 7000 hectare agribusiness engaged in farming, food production, processing and distribution of a wide range of produce. Mosunmola is an Ashoka Fellow and Goldman Sachs 10,000 women Scholar. She also served as an ambassador, advocate and consultant to the Youth Division of African Union Commission.

Honeysuckles produces high quality products from its own farms and ponds. Mosunmola trains and mentors young Nigerian youths that want to venture into agricultural food production through her ABIRA Agricultural Support Initiative. She is also engaging schools, governments, and businesses to recognize the absence of infrastructure to participate in modern agriculture, especially for the youth. Mosunmola was recently selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader.

Grace Mijiga-Mhango

Director of Agriseed & African Women in Agribusiness, Malawi

Grace, along with her sister Thokozani (Thoko) Unyolo, launched the first women-owned seed company in Malawi, Afriseed Company Limited. It’s aimed for production and distribution of quality legume seeds and grains. While doing research as part of her Master’s degree, Thoko learned that her country had a 70% seed deficit in legume seeds and that Africa requires 1,200,000 tons of seed per annum but produces considerably less. She also found a lack of extension services and poor storage capacity, which led to perennial post-harvest loss, and therefore, loss of a decent income for small farmers.

Grace conceptualized the African Food Basket Project, a multi-million dollar agribusiness venture which aims to benefit 500,000 women across grain production value chains in six countries over the next five years.  Apart from Malawi and Zambia, her target countries are the DRC, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.

Eugénie Faïzoun

Manager: Johan Estève Agro-fisheries farm, Benin

Eugénie Faïzoun manages a four-hectare multipurpose farm that is innovating agricultural and fish farming practices. She used a cost-sharing subsidy of CFAF 14.6 million (about $24,000) to completely overhaul her farm over the past two years. The fund enabled her construct five fish ponds for tilapia, drill a borehole, a catfish and fingerling production pond, and a high-capacity generator.

With 21 years of experience, Faïzoun is renowned for her expertise in fish farming, and she works with several institutions to train future fish farmers from surrounding communities. In 2013, she was awarded the prize for the best fish farmer by Japanese International Cooperation Agency.

Oluwayimika Angel Adelaja

CEO of Fresh Direct Produce & Agro-allied Services | Co-Founder We Farm Africa | Nigeria

Angel Adelaja is a development consultant and entrepreneur. She formulates inclusive growth strategies for government and organizations to reduce heath disparity, poverty, unemployment and to boost agricultural and economic development.

Fresh Direct Nigeria is a city farming initiative that uses stackable containers to farm. She utilizes hydroponics and vertical farming within a container to grow directly in urban areas. The company provides exquisitely grown organic fruits, vegetables, meats and processed end products. The goal is to create pathways to entice other young people into profitable agricultural ventures, empower them with employment and finally strengthen them to also be successful future employers of labour.

Angel is also the co-founder of “We Farm Africa”; a Not for Profit agricultural organization that focuses on collective action to ensuring a better future for Africa through sustainable agriculture.

Elorm Goh

Executive Director Food Transactions Ltd |Agrisolve Ghana

Elorm started out by buying and selling maize as an undergraduate in the University of Ghana. This drove her interest to become an international trader in the agricultural industry. She later became a member of the Ghana Agricultural Producers and Traders Organization.

Agrisolve aims to innovate and initiate measures to improve the value chain of agricultural products by reaching deprived and poor hardworking farmers in the country. Elorm exports maize from her warehouse in Abissi, a town located in the maize producing zone in Ghana. In 2010, she emerged one of five winners of the United Nation’s prestigious Sukuma Young Afrika Entrepreneurs Award.

Elizabeth Swai

Managing Director AKM Glitters Company Limited Tanzania

Elizabeth Swai is the Managing Director and majority shareholder of AKM Glitter Ltd., a major supplier of organic poultry products to over 20 regions in Tanzania.

Elizabeth runs a thriving poultry business that has expanded its operations to include small scale farmers in its supply chain. She is an active member of the World Poultry Association, founding member of the African Agriculture Academy and also serves as lead coordinator of African Women in Agribusiness Network in Tanzania.

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