Training Tanzanian entrepreneurs to bring business to the boil
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cooking goes down a treat in Tanzania, and more and more women are turning their
culinary skills into profit. But many lack the managerial skills to improve and
grow their businesses.
That's why DFID is helping small food producers like Bonitha Komba - pictured
- to improve their culinary and business skills, by channelling £4.2 million per
year through the
United Nations Industrial Development
Organisation (UNIDO).
UNIDO set up training programmes in six Tanzanian provinces, including Arusha and Dar Es Salaam, through its Tanzanian counterpart, the Small-scale Industries Development Organisation (SIDO).
SIDO trains local women to
manage small food processing businesses. The women also learn to get to grips
with today's technology and to comply with national food hygiene standards.
Participants learn about making pickles, fruit jams, cooking oil, peanut butter,
flour, dried vegetables, wines, fruit syrup, bread, sausages, tomato sauce,
yoghurt and spices.
Women leave the course with a certificate and then get regular advice on how to
improve quality and increase their production.
From redundancy to relish
Bonitha Komba
is a small farmer and winemaker. Hers is a story of courage and
achievement against all the odds. She and her husband, a civil engineer, used to
work their farm in their spare time away from their full-time jobs.
Then tragedy struck – her husband was killed in a road accident, leaving Bonitha
with a farm and family to support. On top of that she had been made redundant
after 17 years as a chemist .
But she was determined not to let bad luck get her down. Speaking in July 2005,
Bonitha said: “I decided put my
chemist’s training to good use by turning to food processing,” she said. One of
her first ports of call was a SIDO training course in food processing. It gave
her the skills and confidence to set up her wine and pickle-making business.
In her farm kitchen, Bonitha makes wines from pineapple, banana, pawpaw and
hibiscus. She sells her bottles to local supermarkets and bars. Her speciality
foods are garlic paste and a tasty pickle made from Mbilimbi fruit that
grow in her garden.
The many awards she has won in recent years speak for the quality of her
produce. Her photo album is sprinkled with pictures of her with leading figures
– including the Prime Minister on the day she won the National Winner’s
Certificate 2001 from the Tanzanian Agricultural Society.
“My long-term ambition is to produce my wines for export,” says Bonitha.
“If I have enough capital I can make the wine and pickle in quantity and comply
with international food regulations.”
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Key Facts
- As of 2006, DFID contributes £4.2 million a year to UNIDO to promote sustainable industrial development in poor countries.
- SIDO has 15 training and production centres in Tanzania where entrepreneurs are trained in food processing. 37 trainers are there to help women entrepreneurs and regularly monitor their business performance. As a result, 320 new jobs have been created in six regions
- From the first group of trained women in 1992, 70% earn a regular living from food processing and run their own business
- 60% of trained women are able to contribute to basic family needs such as food, clothing, and health care and school fees
- SIDO can provide credit to small-scale industries - a sector where banks are traditionally cautious of lending
