Pamela’s first efforts to help the less privileged back home began in 1994 while in Japan when she launched an NGO to support her former primary school in Lalle Village – Soroti District. Through her efforts, enrollment grew from 182 to 1200 students, but still, with more than 70% of the rural population depending on farming and living on less than US$2 a day, she felt she could do more.
“That experience and my work at the FAO were critical building blocks for my vision of moving farmers from subsistence and dependency to ‘farming as a business’. I needed to create a complete production value chain so they could have sustainable incomes. As an agricultural economist, I embarked on developing my business skills and I teamed up with an investor and business mentor, Avigdor Hachamoff, [Ex-Director of Interflour Limited] who had 40 years’ experience in the agri-biz sector and together we established Sunshine Agro Products Ltd,”
That was 2007. Starting with 15 widowed farmers, Sunshine’s goal was to create sustainable farming in rural Uganda by giving farmers farm inputs, seeds, training in good agricultural practices and then buying back their crops for guaranteed resale in international markets. In the decade since, they have signed contracts with 10,000 farmers and have expanded from chilli production to 31 types of healthy herbal teas and cocoa. Probably the biggest achievement for Sunshine has been the creation of its own brand.
“In order to get better prices for our farmers, and respond to the consumer demand for healthy organic, natural and ethical products, we created Asante Mama signature brand to market herbal tea, spices and cocoa products ‘from farm to table’ directly. Asante Mama means ‘thank you mother’ in Swahili. We chose this name because farmers were always telling me ‘thank you mama’, but also because we are all thankful to the land that gives us these wonderful crops.”
Pamela answers following questions:
How difficult is it for a women to invest in food processing?
How important is it to collaborate with research?
Do you need international expertise?
What were the main difficulties?
Related:
African Business: You must go through the PAIN...before reaping the fruits.
Published on 9 Jun 2017
This is an honest message of Dr. Harnet Bokrezion for those who are hindered by fear, doubts, confusion, pain, and slow progress...
Be empowered: Join www.africajumpstart.com !
Diaspora Exploring Business Opportunities in Africa (Rwanda)
Diaspora Doing Business in Ghana: Opportunities in the Cocoa and Chocolate Industry
12 Tip For Starting A Business In Ghana For Expats and Returnees
Published on 20 Aug 2016. I have put together these 12 TIPs, for starting a business in Ghana. They are based on my experiences and lessons I have learnt since starting my business in Ghana in 2010. The 12 points I make in this video forms part of the philosophies my business is built on and how I manage my relationship with my employees. It is also what affords me the chance to be able to leave my business behind without worrying about how things are so much. These are really the lesson I wish someone had put out for me when I first started on my journey to start a business in Ghana as a returnee.
“That experience and my work at the FAO were critical building blocks for my vision of moving farmers from subsistence and dependency to ‘farming as a business’. I needed to create a complete production value chain so they could have sustainable incomes. As an agricultural economist, I embarked on developing my business skills and I teamed up with an investor and business mentor, Avigdor Hachamoff, [Ex-Director of Interflour Limited] who had 40 years’ experience in the agri-biz sector and together we established Sunshine Agro Products Ltd,”
“In order to get better prices for our farmers, and respond to the consumer demand for healthy organic, natural and ethical products, we created Asante Mama signature brand to market herbal tea, spices and cocoa products ‘from farm to table’ directly. Asante Mama means ‘thank you mother’ in Swahili. We chose this name because farmers were always telling me ‘thank you mama’, but also because we are all thankful to the land that gives us these wonderful crops.”
No comments:
Post a Comment