Women’s business tastes the fruits of its labor

Kadiatou Ndao is proud of her brimming sacks of baobab and jujube powder.  In just three years, she has pounded enough dusty fruit kernels and berries and marketed the powder to quadruple her profits. It all started with a little help from USAID. 

Kadiatou, 35, is president of Gada Faro’s baobab cooperative in the town of Koussanar in central Senegal.  She says that before receiving support from USAID’s agriculture and natural resources management project, Wula Nafaa, the 28 women of her cooperative lacked the necessary skills, knowledge, and training to run a successful business. The have since discovered that learning to process and sell baobab fruit and jujube is a life-changing experience.

While one kilo of unprocessed jujube, a dried berry, sells for 50 CFA, the equivalent of 10 U.S. cents, processed jujube is used to make small sweet and sour cakes that sell for 25 CFA (five cents) each.  One kilo of jujube powder can make 150 jujube cakes, resulting in a 74% increase over the price of one kilo of unprocessed jujube. Baobab fruit is a dry pulpy fruit used by Senegalese to make a creamy fruit juice. By processing baobab fruit into a powder it makes for easier juice production and thus helps market this product to busy families in Dakar.

The improved quality of the products is reflected in rising market demand. The women’s total revenues for baobab and jujube rose from 226,725 CFA ($454) in fiscal year 2004-05 to 287,231 CFA ($474) in 2005-06 – an increase of 27%.  Revenues for 2006-07 already show a dramatic rise at 575,000 CFA ($1,150), more than twice last year’s total.

From the beginning of February until the end of May 2007, Kadiatou, earned 150,000 CFA ($300) in combined revenues from baobab fruit and jujube, which is four times as much as she earned in 2004.  She invested 50,000 CFA ($100) in cultivation, used another 50,000 CFA to support her family, and saved the last 50,000 CFA to purchase baobab fruit and jujube next year for processing.  The women know they have to plan ahead; they have their hands full just satisfying demand.

Kadiatou has not been able to have any children of her own, but has adopted the four daughters of her deceased brother.  Her increased income allows her to send all four girls age five to 15 to school and pay for their supplies.  

When asked what aspect of working with USAID/Wula Nafaa has been the most helpful, the women are unanimous in their appreciation of “Making Cents: The Spirit of Enterprise” training that taught the women how to develop a business plan, calculate costs, and understand the importance of planning, saving, and investing.

“We have received a lot of support from USAID/ Wula Nafaa and we will keep working even after the project has finished,” an enthusiastic Kadiatou says on presenting her official certificate declaring her successful completion of the “Making Cents” training.  “When we need training to reinforce what we have learned, we will do our best to finance it on our own.”