Female Entrepreneurs Feed the World
Women in the developing world are making their mark in Food Tech.
Tucked into the folds of an innocuous neighborhood of Ouagadougou, Madame Simone Zoundi is baking up a storm, and it’s improving nutrition for children all across Burkina Faso. At SODEPAL, Madame Zoundi is transforming local agricultural products, from honey and millet to the fruit and leaves of the Morenga tree (the ‘tree of heaven’ in Morré), into high quality and nutritious flours, biscuits, candies, and even made-to-order cakes. The income earned from selling these tasty treats is used to feed malnourish children, and in so doing, helping them access enough calories to grow, learn, and dream.
The core of SODEPAL’s social mission is their revolutionary product Vitaline, a nutrient-enriched millet flour produced entirely from locally-sourced products that, when mixed with water, creates a high-powered porridge that helps fight malnutrition, stunting, and nutrient deficiencies. The photo album full of success stories that Madame Zoundi keeps on her desk speaks to their products effectiveness; in about twenty one days, children who are little more than skin and bones are transformed into grinning, healthy kids who are stronger, more resilient, and more able to learn. (SODEPAL also uses enriched flours in most of its commercial products, including their biscuits, so even their regular customers get an extra shot of natural, local vitamins and nutrients.)
When Madame Zoundi first returned from studying in France, she considered working for the traditional path of the well-educated, government work. But she wanted more- not more money, more impact. Madame Zoundi knew that private enterprise would be essential for growth in Burkina Faso, so she decided to start her own business. After facing many social, political, and cultural challenges over her 20 years, SODEPAL was born and Madame Zoundi had made a name for herself as a pioneering female entrepreneur.
But the challenges didn’t end when the doors opened. SODEPAL runs their biscuiterie in a residential neighborhood as a result of high land prices in the industrial zones. This puts serious constraints on energy use, and SODEPAL operates a significant amount of the time in the wee hours of the night to take advantage of cheaper and more consistent electricity. As SODEPAL sources its ingredients locally, this too has led to strain as volatile market prices for essentials like eggs and sorghum (and the profit-minimizing cut taken by middle men) has put a strain on SODEPAL’s business plan. Going forward, they hope to work directly with farmers and gain more governmental support in terms of favorable policies to support their social work.
Madame Zoundi goes beyond nourishing Burkinabé youth, she is also heavily engaged at the policy-level in guiding future entrepreneurs and helping to create a more favorable environment for innovation. As part of her many leadership roles, Madame Zoundi was instrumental in founding le Patronat, the national organization of business leaders, and she also served on the President’s advisory committee for investment as well as advising policy-makers who are working on Burkina’s current growth and sustainable development plan (SCADD). Madame Zoundi wants her life and experiences to help other women like herself find ways to be empowered and to empower their communities.
Flipping first through the scrapbook of children who SODEPAL has nourished and then through the book of made-to-order cakes that have been ordered, it was incredible to think that, in a way, SODEPAL was feeding children with cake, and in doing so, transforming their lives in a fundamentally healthy way that cake doesn’t usually provide. To me it was clear evidence that where there’s a will, there’s a way, and if you have the strength to commit to your passions (be that baking cakes, starting businesses, or changing lives) its possible to create a kind of magic that can transform anything, a heavenly tree into a cookie, a cake into a dollar, or flour into a future.
