Cindy, CAMFED Association member and entrepreneur - Video Transcript
Cindy, CAMFED Association Member and Entrepreneur My name is Cindy, I’m from Upper-East, but currently in Tamale, Northern Ghana and I’m the CEO for Fresh Veg Agribusiness, which is located in Tamale, Northern Ghana.
I grew up in a family of four and my daddy passed away when I was 13 years, so I basically grew up with my mother and two other siblings. I was being raised by a woman who was very determined to do anything to send her daughter to school and having to finish school, I knew that the next step was just going to usher me to becoming a medical doctor so it meant everything, it meant hope for me.
I also was privileged to be part of the scholars entrepreneurship fund, which I was one of the winners and I was given a start-up fund for my business. The name of my business is Fresh Veg Agribusiness, and we are currently into producing fresh vegetables with the use of the greenhouse technology which grants us the opportunity of producing fresh vegetables throughout the whole year. Currently we have just one greenhouse and we are hoping to scale up and I do have an employee on board.
So the passion that I have behind the whole business is to provide society with the opportunity of eating healthy. And I think that is one thing that is lacking in our part of the world. People are not really into eating fresh vegetables, but having had the background in health I know that the way forward for even to reduce the number of cases that we record in the hospital is to promote healthy living.
And doing such a thing will even help at least make my produce or make vegetables like available all through the year. So it would be much more accessible and affordable to the people of my community. And I believe at the end of the day, that would make them even more healthier and less prone to diseases.
The whole idea started up when I got to really know about the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically the second, which is zero hunger. So I really had the passion to contribute to solving or helping achieve that goal. The way of getting that is through agriculture. The other plan is also to open up a store where my produce would be exhibited and made available to members of my community.
The best thing about being an entrepreneur would have to be the fact that my business is into solving a problem, and the problem being the fact that here in our part of the country, northern region, we have just one rainy season that gives the farmers just an opportunity to farm for half of the year. But with this kind of business that I’m having, we are being given the opportunity of farming throughout the year with the greenhouse farming technology, which will mean that it will be an availability of produce in the markets throughout the year as well.
The whole idea about encouraging females to endeavour in entrepreneurship to me is the right step to take because we are in a part of the world whereby unemployment is on the rise. People complete schools with no job to do at the end of the day, but having a business on your own will help you as an individual to sustain yourself, even your family and even around your community as well.
My measure of success will be the impact my business makes at the end of the day, the number of people, the individuals, the communities that are being impacted, who have benefitted. For me, success is not just about an individual like the fact that I can acquire a house, a car. No, it goes beyond that. Putting a smile on somebody’s face means success to me.
Text over white screen Cindy is currently a medical student and is set to finish her studies soon. Her business has helped support her during her studies, and also to fund other projects that will benefit her community. Has Cindy inspired you? What does success mean for you and your business?
This video was created by CAMFED, partnering with the Mastercard Foundation under the auspices of the Young Africa Works strategy which will enable 30 million young people, particularly young women across Africa to access dignified and fulfilling work.