Expanding Fruit & Vegetable Vendors’ Offerings
Location: Tanzania
Key(s): Economic Empowerment, Access to Food & Water
Mategemeo Women Association, a non-governmental organization based in Tanzania, has continued to actively engage local and global stakeholders and work together to support vulnerable women and girls who need support to uplift their lives. In the past, Mategemeo has worked to create a Revolving Loan Scheme to fund women owned small businesses in the region. The fund has been highly successful and they have been able to provide business training to 120 successful, women owned businesses and micro-loans to more than 200.
In a recent meeting, local fruit and vegetable vendors requested supplies to improve their offerings. Fruits and vegetables are abundant in the market and their value is relatively low in their raw form. However, processed fruit and vegetables like juices and dried products are much less common and therefore more valuable.
Rockflower has agreed to fund Mategemeo Women Association to purchase 3 fruit blenders to make juice and two solar dehydrators to preserve vegetables for the dry season. The organization has been able to pool their own resources to partially fund the project and Rockflower will be funding the rest. The vendors see an opportunity to increase their profit, provide products that aren’t currently available locally and decrease food waste.