From fish sausages to starfruit cake: how female entrepreneurs are pioneering agribusinesses

By Michelle Nurse Last updated Oct 8, 2015

A Brussels Briefing on ‘Women entrepreneurs – key players in ACP agribusiness development’ took place on Thursday 17 September 2015 at the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) Secretariat. Five women: three from sub-Saharan Africa, one from the Caribbean and one from the Pacific region, gave fascinating accounts of starting and managing agribusinesses. They talked about the factors that had driven their success and the challenges they face.

Brussels Development Briefings focus on important issues and challenges for rural development, in the context of ACP-EU cooperation. CTA is one of the organisers of the series, along with the DG DEVCO from the European Commission, the ACP Secretariat and several other bodies.

The entrepreneurs’ stories

Rosemund Benn, Pomeroon Women’s Agro-Processor Association, Guyana

The Pomeroon Women’s Agro-Processor Association was launched in 2001 as a community response to two problems. Huge amounts of locally-grown fruits were spoiling due to the lack of a market for them. Meanwhile, many local women, including female household heads, had no paid work.

Rosemund Benn, who is President of the Association, described how it began with 14 women supplying five local shops with a starfruit cake mix. Thanks partly to support from organisations such as the Caribbean Network of Rural Women Producers (CaFAN), the Association has grown. It now buys produce from several hundred smallholders and produces a range of branded items including sauces and fruit wine. It supplies supermarkets in the Guyanan capital Georgetown and more than 100 small shops.

AFrican Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP)European Union Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA)