In Paraíba, Northeast Brazil, opportunities for livelihoods and business training, particularly for women, are limited. The impact of Covid-19 on local markets was a challenge to many small businesses, which had to adapt to survive.
The ‘Marinas do Abiaí’ group of 12 women was set up in 2010 to support income generation opportunities for women in the community. The group has small plots to grow vegetables and fruit for food for themselves and their families, with any excess being sold in local markets.
With funding from The Penny Appeal, our project has enabled the group to access furniture, utensils and materials they needed to develop their businesses. We also delivered training in business management and planning, and supported them to develop a logo to promote their business.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, as markets were closed, the group realised that up to 40% of their cassava crop was being wasted. To resolve this, they started milling it to make flour. It is a very desirable product in the country, used to make tapioca, a pancake-like product that has indigenous origins.
Creative business opportunities
Working together to purchase a small grinder, the group secured new clients and began to sell their product in farmers’ markets, increasing their collective income by 50%. Seeing the potential to expand and grow, they also started an online campaign to raise funds of £1,000 from private donations and local government.
The project also supported the group with a ‘rotating fund’, a small fund wholly owned and managed by the group to use as working capital or for other needs, part of which they intend to use for the mill-house. This has opened up further opportunities, including making natural medicines to strengthen women’s immune systems and to address common illnesses, which has proved successful.
Meet Maria
Maria, 50 years old, is one of the members of the group. She has vast knowledge of medicinal herbs and leads the group in this aspect of their business.
She said: “The meetings were great and helped to motivate us. As part of the project, we would meet to talk about our needs and the difficulties we face as women and this helped a lot. The project educators also urged us to exercise to improve our health which was great and we also discussed how we could reuse and make the most of our products, like making flour from the cassava. This meant we could get a better price, which was great, as before this we were often not even covering our expenses. Because of the project, we won’t have any more waste in the future, we’re going to reuse everything. The project was really good for our group.”