GIZ honoured for sustained support for women in Agribusiness

Guzakuza, a social enterprise organisation that seeks to inspire young women in Agribusiness, has presented a citation to the GIZ-Agribiz programme for supporting the Ignite African Women in Agribusiness.

GIZ through its Sustainable Employment in Agribusiness (AgriBiz) Programme had continuously supported female entrepreneurs in the agribusiness sector.

The AgriBiz programme which started in April 2021, will run until March 2024 and is aimed at building the capacities of MSMEs for aggregating and processing agricultural and natural products, an intervention which focuses on tailor-made training and coaching of enterprises as well as piloting and upscaling of innovative technologies.

Other areas of intervention include improving quality management systems and certification, advisory services on the use of by-products and exploration of new markets among others.

Mr Henry Fordi, Project Lead of Guzakuza who presented the citation on behalf of his organization, said Guzakuza was privileged to have GIZ sponsor its 2020 Ignite programme.

He also commended GIZ for supporting young female agri-preneurs to undergo transformational training and coaching programmes that will lead to the growth of their businesses.

He said during the upsurge of the Covid-19 in the country, most women who owned small scale businesses struggled to survive, adding that the GIZ through the Guzakuza initiative equipped the women with tools and resources to build sustainable agribusiness.

According to him, the Guzakuza has successfully inspired women to build disruptive agribusinesses through its game changing initiatives such as Ignite; Do pal natural farm; She farms; Women in Agribusiness forum; and Mentor her programme.

Dr. Elke Stumpf, Head of the Agribiz Programme of GIZ who received the citation on behalf of GIZ, said the agribiz programme was supporting public and private agri-businesses with a strong focus on job creation, particularly for women and the youth.

She expressed her delight not only for the Ignite programme but also for the value it adds to the young female entrepreneurs who benefit from it.

She reiterated that Agribiz will continue to partner with Guzakuza and other like-minded organisations to support such programmes targeting women in agribusiness.

She described Ignite as an agri-business accelerator model for African young women that seek to address challenges such as inadequate technical know-how, market access limitations, and the lack of mentorship and networking.