Stories & blogs - Post
07
AugIn rural Kenya, women agri-entrepreneurs face barriers that men do not. They are often locked out of larger, more profitable value chains because they will typically produce in smaller volumes.
Until recently Pauline Mbugua, farmer and entrepreneur, was one of the many women whose only option was to sell her produce at a roadside stall, earning just enough to put food on the table. The vital market and business connections she needed to take her business to the next level looked set to pass her by.
From roadside stall to Kenya Nut Company supplier
Then she joined Hand in Hand’s accelerator programme and learned how to run a successful business and how to make business connections using WhatsApp for business.
Immediately, Pauline posted every item of produce she had and that, says Pauline is, “when things started to get better”. Her first online sale of bananas went for US $82, avocados now sell for up to US $0.82 per kilo, almost four times what she could earn at the market, and she now sells macadamia nuts directly the Kenya Nut Company.
Pauline says, “I didn’t get to complete my high school education…[but] joining Hand in Hand really helped me… [they] helped me plan my farm…and now I know selling online is better as compared to local sales.”
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