If you asked Omar what he thought he would be doing for work a few years ago, the answer probably wouldn’t have been farming. Like many young people in Senegal, he moved to another country to seek other work opportunities.
Haitian businesses have the raw talent and ambition to create businesses. But in Haiti, they face an uphill struggle. The cost of borrowing is high. The business development services provided are not tailored to the needs of MSMEs. MSMEs also find hiring a trained and skilled labor force difficult due to few educational opportunities, and many skilled professionals have emigrated to other countries.
Hadija always knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur. This truth became clearer as she graduated from university. She saw how many young people like herself struggled to find work. So, starting her own business, or creating work opportunities for herself, seemed like the natural next step. In 2015, after Hadija graduated, she learned about onion farming and took a course on manufacturing industrial products in Kenya. After this transformative course, the seed of GBRI Solutions was planted, and Hadija founded her business.
Baltazari knows what it means to struggle: the farmer from Nyasa district, Tanzania, works hard to provide for his six children. Yet, despite his labors, he couldn’t earn enough to support them. Baltazari grows crops like maize, cassava, and sesame, but due to lower crop yields, he made little money.
Around the world, youth unemployment remains a lingering problem, with millions of young people unable to contribute their time and talent to the workforce. In the long term, this means trouble: without a sense of purpose and experience, young people will be locked out of the labor market. This can quickly lead to increased poverty, especially among already marginalized groups, and floundering economies.
When Gosberth, a 44-year-old father of four children from Tanzania, looks back at his journey as a Cassava Seed Entrepreneur (CSE), it reminds him of what it took to get there: hard work, commitment, and a lot of networking.
Selemani lives in Lindi region, Tanzania. For most of his life, he has been a farmer and grows cassava, sesame, and cashew nuts. At first, he only grew cassava for his food. His perspective later changed when he learned of the many opportunities to grow cassava as a cash crop.
Thirty-six-year-old Eugenia embraces the ups and downs of being a single mother. She works hard and plants sunflowers and maize to provide for her family. Eugenia also grows cassava crops, but at first, only for food.
Esthère-Love Jean is an ambitious woman entrepreneur who runs a small soft drink business. Equipped with drive and determination, she struggles to get by, making only enough money to feed her son.
Angelita Mbatia is a former Director of Financial Markets from the Central Bank of Tanzania. In 2004, she moved from Dar es Salaam to Bwama village, Kisarawe district. Her motivation to move there was clear: she was inspired by Julius Nyerere’s (Tanzania’s first president) philosophy of self-reliance and wanted to apply this philosophy to helping support the Bwama village community.
10 years ago after completing my master’s in business administration degree, I was thinking, ‘from where should I start my career journey?’
Through MEDA’s M-SAWA project, funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC), TCP is providing 15-20 alternative fuel producer (50% women led) enterprises with training, mentorship, financial support, technical support, online resources, and access to a network of entrepreneurs to generate a positive economic and environmental impact by displacing use of traditional wood charcoal.
Mennonite Economic Development Associates is an international economic development organization that creates business solutions to poverty.
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