“Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world”
We wish our Agripreneur community a very happy International Women’s Day. A day which not only celebrates the achievements of women in all fields but also reminds us that gender parity is imperative for a better world. This year the official theme is “Gender Equality today for a Sustainable Tomorrow”. We at the Agripreneurship Alliance are committed to the objective of creating wealth, promoting equality and producing nutritious and safe foods by promoting sustainable SME’s across the African agri-food sector.
Women entrepreneurs, active across Africa, create wealth and opportunities not only for their family but also for the wider society. As such we strongly believe that supporting the growth of female led SME’s makes a significant contribution to sustainable, fair, and just development. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
At the Agripreneurship Alliance, in line with our objective of creating gender equality, we have always encouraged women to participate and augment their skills through our courses. We have promoted access to our core ‘Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness’ course, supporting young entrepreneurs to develop Business Plans for agri-food businesses that can then be launched and grow. This course is offered through our great partners at Universities across DRC, Kenya, Somaliland, Namibia, and Uganda., each university facilitating one or more classes of up to 25 participants. Since starting this course in 2018 we have been please to see the numbers of young women participating in the course grow on a year-on-year basis. We are delighted that in 2022, while female participation overall is 41%, we can mark for the first time the achievement of having two classes where the majority of participants are young women.
Women entrepreneurs time and again have made a deep impact by overhauling unjust systems of society, sparking collaboration and re-shaping mindsets and behaviours. We are committed to create an entrepreneurial environment where women thrive and fulfil their potential as business owners and leaders within their communities.