Women's SME Accelerator Programme: Meet the mentees | Part V
Women in business are at the heart of FAO’s mandate to reduce rural poverty and achieve food security for all.
That’s why in October 2022, 50 women entrepreneurs working in the agrifood sector across Sub-Saharan Africa were chosen to participate in the first year of the FAO-IAFN Women’s Accelerator Mentorship Programme for Women-led SMEs in Africa.
Participants were selected from an open call for expressions of interest by a panel of experts from FAO and IAFN.
CONNECT Portal will be regularly featuring the stories of the hard-working women who took part in the programme. You can read the fifth in our series of articles on these women below.
Vera Osei-Bonsu
Vera Osei-Bonsu is the CEO and founder of Start Right Nutrition Limited and Eat Smart Foods, which aim to provide naturally fortified local baby food options to caregivers, particularly mothers. A self-proclaimed "mumpreneur" from Ghana, Vera’s mission is to improve the diets of children in Ghana and across Africa.
Eat Smart Foods produces all-natural baby cereal powders using all-local ingredients that provide essential portions of protein, fats, carbohydrates, and energy to prevent malnutrition and hidden hunger in children aged six months to five years. Vera and her team empower caregivers to create nutritious food recipes from local food products, with a strategy of making local baby food products more attractive, nutritious, balanced, and handy.
In addition to manufacturing, the company also engages in advocacy to involve customers as integral parts of the brand. Through their advocacy programs and unique eco-friendly and attractive packaging, Eat Smart Foods has been able to nourish over 30,000 children in Ghana.
“Being impactful takes great learning and determination. Taking part in FAO-IAFN’s SME accelerator programme has taught me that continuous learning and mentoring is key to the growth of every entrepreneur looking for transformation and impact.”
Célia Chabi
Célia Chabi specializes in psychological and psycho-social support for adolescents and young people. In 2017, she founded Kiel Bien-être (Kiel Wellness), a company based in Parakou in Benin that produces, processes and markets baobab. The mission of Kiel Bien-être is to make the baobab tree a bearer of economic, nutritional and medicinal values, ensuring the well-being of all and for all. As the motto of Kiel Bien-être says, nothing is lost, everything is transformed. Kiel Wellness also helps improve the nutritional health of children, pregnant women, breastfeeding women, the elderly and the empowerment of rural women by creating jobs and training more than a hundred women.
A social activist and young woman defender of human rights, Célia is also the president of the association of young people for the promotion of education and culture (AJePEC Su Dom Sé), regional coordinator of the Virgin Warrior program, a network of young girls activists.
“Thanks to the program, I had the privilege of having a brilliant and exceptional mentor who allowed me to better restructure my business, broaden my vision and above all know the right and best opportunities. With her mentoring, I had the best tips to increase turnover. Beyond being a mentor, she was a protector, a support and a booster.”
Feddy Tesha
Feddy Tesha is the Founder and Managing Director of Profate Investments Ltd, which started getting involved in small-scale dairy milk processing starting from 2008. Profate has a staff of 27, with 50 percent of the senior management being women. Profate is a vertically integrated commercial profit-making dairy business, keen also to deliver social and economic benefits to its stakeholders and suppliers. Its objective is to ensure the sustainability and growth of the milk value chain through maintaining the collective partnership with the farmer milk supplier groups and cooperatives.
The Tanzanian company has developed a value chain-based, inclusive dairy model based on using its Dairy Demonstration Farm concept as hub to enhance productivity, quality and commercializing dairy production. It does this through the training, mentorship and the practical physical participation of smallholder dairy farmers on pasture production and preservation, animal husbandry, hygiene in handling milk, entrepreneurship and economics through undertaking commercially viable approaches, skills and proven production technologies in collaboration with other stakeholders.
"Following a recent unique and eye-opening FAO Mentorship program that I luckily attended recently, I am looking at my collaboration with other stakeholder partners to prioritize on Water and Energy solutions to our smallholder farmer milk suppliers as critical concerns in Food Systems, while maximizing on efficient resource utilization and nature conservation.
I sincerely thank IAFN and FAO. It has been a wonderful achievement, and I am sure it will make a difference in our undertaking.”
Nishimwe Esther
Nishimwe Esther is a student at the Institute of Applied Sciences (INES) Ruhengeri studying biomedical laboratory sciences and the founder of the Rwanda-based Pristine Life Ltd.
Esther's company started operations in 2020 with an entrepreneur's fund of some 1,260,000 Rwandan francs. Her enterprise plants and cultivates watermelon, which it adds value to by producing fruit juice, natural body lotions and food for livestock and poultry at the same time.
Esther operates Pristine Life Ltd alongside her colleague and fellow student Pascaline Uwimana.
“Attending workshops has had a significant positive impact on both me and my business. By leveraging technology in agriculture, I have gained valuable insights into how to increase my harvest yield. Additionally, I was inspired by the various strategies used in the food chain, including processing techniques that add value to my harvest. My mentor, Yaa Kusi Binka, played an instrumental role in guiding me towards my vision and helping me devise plans to diversify my crops in order to meet market demands. I am immensely grateful for her efforts and encouragement.”
