The farmers of Nyamasheke used to struggle to get a decent price for the pineapples they grow. With the fruit in high supply during the harvest season and no significant means within the local community to process it, prices always stayed low.

Isabelle Uzamukunda, a local woman entrepreneur, is helping to change this. As we celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March, her story exemplifies the incredibly positive impact that women entrepreneurs can have on both local economies and communities.

Uzamukunda’s business, Agasaro Organic, processes pineapples and other fruits to produce organic juices and biscuits.

It uses farmers and cooperatives from Nyamasheke as suppliers, giving them the opportunity to earn a steady income and a fair price for their goods.

The pricing and higher demand Agasaro introduced to the area also helped to increase the price of pineapples in the local market.

"When I first came here pineapples were thrown away. Now growing them has become a profitable industry,” says Uzamukunda.

Her journey as an entrepreneur began in 2007 when she called on family and friends for funding to get her business off the ground.

A worker adds flour during the baking process at Agasaro Organic’s manufacturing facility. The factory has provided local means to process pineapples during the harvest season to avoid the fruit going to waste.

She started working with just six women farmers in Kirimbi who were given land to farm by the Nyamasheke District.

Agasaro’s sales continued to climb and by 2017 Uzamukunda desperately needed new packaging equipment.

She struggled to get financing from commercial banks and approached GroFin, a pioneering private development finance institution specialising in financing and supporting small and growing businesses across Africa and the Middle East.

GroFin has invested nearly $6 million in women-owned SMEs in Rwanda since starting its operations in 2007.

This investment allowed these businesses to sustain almost 300 jobs for other women in their communities.

Christian Bugabo, Investment Executive for GroFin Rwanda.

GroFin provided Uzamukunda with the financing she needed as well as support to enhance her business skills. She says GroFin helped to build her confidence as a woman entrepreneur.

"I realised that if you get the right support, it is possible to build a successful factory that can support many people, including women farmers. Today there are live testimonies of how Agasaro has changed lives and transformed the community.”

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report for 2019, Rwanda has already closed 79.1 per cent of its gender gap and is ranked 9th in the world in terms of gender equality.

Yet, Rwandan women are still most likely to bear the brunt of poverty as, according to Oxfam, they head close to a third of agricultural households.

Agasaro currently employs 20 local workers, in addition to the 552 farmers contracted as suppliers to the business.

One of these farmers, Edisa Mukamugema, says she was very poor before she began growing pineapples for Agasaro.

"My husband had abandoned me, and I didn’t have a place to live. Now, I have built a house and have some cattle. I can feed my kids properly and pay for their health insurance.”

Christian Bugabo, Investment Executive for GroFin Rwanda, says Agasaro’s is a perfect illustration of this year’s International Women’s Day theme – #EachforEqual.

"This year’s theme recognises that gender equality is essential for economies and communities to thrive. GroFin understands that a lack of equality still means that women entrepreneurs face greater challenges than their male counterparts.”

He says a lack of access to finance, business skills and a network of contacts are some of the biggest challenges that keep women entrepreneurs from growing their businesses.

"GroFin helps women entrepreneurs to overcome this by offering a combination of finance, expert advice and business support that improves their business skills. Last year, we launched GroWoman, a gender lens investment initiative aimed at ensuring more women entrepreneurs can access the financing and support they need to succeed.”

Bugabo says GroFin also hosts women entrepreneurs at events where they can learn more about accessing finance and build valuable new business relationships. GroFin will be hosting a sector-focused event for women entrepreneurs on 27 March.