Women from the “Egbèlayo” cooperative of mahogany transformers are trained in the photovoltaic solar system. Due to lack of electricity, the women were facing a lot of difficulties and they could not work at night. In the darkness, they were also faced with dangers related to animals in the bush and also o

Florence BASSONO is an executive assistant by training. She created FASO ATTIEKE, a company that processes and markets local cassava. Being under threat of being sacked by her employer, Florence began to look for business ideas. She first tries trade, but it was a failure. This activity was not made for her. In a secon

In 2002, Sabine NANA and her friends left Côte d’Ivoire during the war. They are rebuilding their lives in Burkina Faso through the processing of cassava into fresh and dried attiéké (cassava couscous). Sabine and her friends started their business in shea butter and sprouted millet, but it was not profitable

Seynabou DIENG TRAORE has a degree in communication. Through her company, “Maya Agroalimentaire”, she offers various marinades and organic spices ready to serve. When Seynabou came back to Mali in 2015, she noticed that other working women were consuming of lot of imported products. Local products were available bu

In Burkina Faso, Aïcha Traoré wants to replace plastic bags with paper bags. Aïcha saw how the use of plastic bags was becoming harmful to the environment. And she wanted to do something about it. Without any training, she learnt by herself to make paper bags. Today she has a business that works. “In 2017, Read More

Fatou SARR is a graduate in computer network. She produces and transforms organic aloe vera into cosmetics and food supplements. Fatou inherited the passion for agriculture from her father. She started with the cultivation of chilli, green beans, melons and strawberries. Later, she turned to aloe vera production becaus

At Donsin, a village situated some 30 km from Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso, rural women are on the way to conquer the tomato puree market. The women’s group “Neerwaya” of Donsin exists since the 1990’s. At the time, their main activity was to dry tomato and other leafy vegetables. While it was<

Mabel ADEKAMBI, is a graduate in tourism. In 2015, she launched “King of Soto”, a liquor made from palm wine. Mabel’s entrepreneurial journey started in 2012 when she decided to make her own drinks for Christmas Eve, because shop-bought liquor was not within her budget. A year later, some friends came over to her

Awa CABA is an IT design engineer. After her studies, she launched SOORETUL with her friends. A platform that enables rural women to sell their agricultural products online. In 2011, Awa and her team identified some challenges in the agricultural sector in Senegal. One of the major problems was the marketing of proces

Broulaye DIARRA, 40 years, is a vegetable producer. He learned crop production from his mother and made it his career. On his land of 3 hectares, Broulaye grows mainly vegetables such as celery, beetroot, turnip, cabbage and others. These vegetables are sold to women, who re-sell them to the customers in the city. With

In Central Africa, cassava is considered as one of the strategic crops because of its contribution to food and nutrition security, as well as job creation, especially for women and youth. But at the same time, there are still many challenges along the cassava value chain at the level of production, post-harvest managem

Fresnellia SAGBO holds a degree in food technology and is pursuing her PhD. In 2012, she started her enterprise “Les Jus Freshy”, specialised in the production of local fruit juice cocktails. Fresnellia started to make baobab juice with 5,000 FCFA. At the beginning, her relatives were buying her products to encoura

Hawaou Mariko, holds a degree in enterprise management. In 2014, she takes over the abandoned family farm, and makes it a diversified agricultural enterprise. After completing her studies, Hawaou did not want to look for a job. She wanted to be an entrepreneur. With a loan from her father, she started farming on the f

Daniele NDA holds a degree in banking and finance. Since 2006, she has created her enterprise specialised in crop production in Benin. Daniele started her activities on a family farm that was abandoned. But despite it being a family farm, her parents were not happy when she decided venture into farming. According to he

Caroline HIEN did not know how to read or write. But this did not stop her from creating her own enterprise and succeed in her business of making local fruit jams. Caroline used to go to the market in Cote d’Ivoire and see that fruits were rotting there. For her, this is not acceptable and Read More

In Ouagadougou, Marguerite VALIA, caterer, is involved in the valorisation of local agricultural products. Inspired by her mum, who is a pioneer in the catering business, Marguerite followed her footsteps and is gradually taking over her activities. Marguerite’s long-term project is to open a big restaurant or start

Natalie KPANTE is a graduate in sociology. In 2013, she created with five other young people, CHOCO TOGO, a cooperative that produces and markets organic chocolate. The story started when Natalie and her colleagues attended a training on agricultural entrepreneurship in the framework of a project called “Fair Young S

With a degree in law, Dorothy Selamo’s first dream was to become a judge, administrator or to open her own firm to practice law. But today she found her happiness in agribusiness. Dorothy Selamo has founded Gariland International, a company based in Mbalmayo, a town situated at 45 km from Yaoundé in Cameroon. Sh