Berta was hit hard by Cyclone Idai, a 2019 storm that is one of the worst on record to hit Africa. The Category 4 tropical cyclone took over 1,500 lives and devastated thousands of farmers' fields in Mozambique.
On Berta’s farm in the Manica province, plump cabbages became waterlogged and began to rot in the field. When the storm was over and the fields had dried, her buyer, a local hospital, was without its weekly vegetables. Through her business connections made with support from iDE, Berta was able to get cabbage seeds on credit and quickly began to replant to make up for what was lost. She also became a founding member of several iDE-sponsored savings groups that have impacted hundreds of people. With steady access to capital, Berta and her neighboring farmers are now able to not only recover from their losses but to thrive and grow on their own terms.
What's next for Berta
With additional working capital, Berta can provide her hospital client with more fresh vegetables that she purchases from smallholder farmers, purchase more inputs for reselling and increase her transportation capacity. Berta’s story shows how she is not working in isolation but is a contributing part of a market ecosystem that includes producers, buyers, finance, inputs, and connectors.
Berta's Details
Country
- Mozambique
Sector
- Agriculture
Entrepreneur Impact
- Access to finance
- Availability of Technology
- Motivating Investment
- Output Marketing
- Training & Capacity Building
- Local Distribution & Sales
Ecosystem Impact
- Food & Nutrition Security
- Water Security
- Disaster Preparedness & Recovery
- Local Economic Development
- Transformative Market Participation
Country Profile
- 181/189
Human Development Index (HDI) Rank
- 64%
Poverty Rate
- 32 Million People
Population
iDE was started as a radical idea that business is a solution to move people out of poverty. 40 years later, we still don't give things away. We create long term change by powering entrepreneurs to end poverty for their families and communities.
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