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Thirteen teams of a total of 25 emerging African social entrepreneurs have been selected as winners of the 2020 Resolution Social Venture Challenge. Thirty-eight teams of Mastercard Foundation Scholars gathered virtually to compete in the multi-step competition that identifies promising young leaders with bold ideas for change. Winners of the Resolution Social Venture Challenge are provided seed funding, mentorship, and access to a network of global change-makers. Now in its fifth year, this collaboration between the Mastercard Foundation and The Resolution Project provides a pathway to action for socially responsible young leaders who want to make a difference  in their communities.

“Africa’s young leaders are brimming with talent, energy, and a deep desire to solve local challenges that will have a positive impact on their communities. Yet few young people receive the support and tools they need to undertake a project in their community,” explains Ashley Collier, Lead of North American Partner Network with the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program. “The Social Venture Challenge equips young leaders with the skills and capital they need to ensure their venture is successful, and to maximize their impact.”

In the five years that The Resolution Project has partnered with the Mastercard Foundation, over 100 Mastercard Foundation Scholars have become Resolution Fellows, unlocking $250,000 in micro-grants for social enterprises. These Fellows have implemented social ventures which have positively impacted 17,208 people, including 2,361 women and girls impacted by empowerment initiatives and 770 people benefitting from skills-based training. Additionally, Fellows have hired 132 paid employees and supported 390 people to generate a sustainable income through self-employment.

Winning projects address a wide range of issues Scholars have observed first-hand in their communities and come from across the continent, including Somalia, Ghana, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.

What the Winners of the 2020 Social Venture Challenge said:

“Winning the 2020 Resolution Social Venture Challenge (SVC) means resilience to us because we never gave up when our team did not win in 2019,” says Maame Efua Essel, a Mastercard Foundation Scholar at the University of Cape Coast and a co-founder of Impart Reading. It means hope for the basic school students in the rural areas of Ghana who do not have library facilities

and provides employment to the unemployed. It means one child will get a quality education to become a changemaker one day.  Thanks to the SVC for giving Impart Reading the financial, mentorship, and technical support. Today, Impart Reading is one step towards reducing school dropouts, teenage pregnancy, social vices as well as improving education and youth development in Ghana as a whole."

“Winning the 2020 Resolution Social Venture Challenge means a lot to my team because it’s a validation of our idea and pushes us closer to accomplishing our dream of impacting the lives of refugees,” said Safali Libia, a Mastercard Foundation Scholar at Makerere University and a founding member of the A Hand for a Refuge Project. “By becoming a Resolution Fellow, my team will have the opportunity to be funded, mentored, and given access to a network of likeminded people who are passionate about creating change in Africa. Together with The Resolution Project, A Hand for a Refugee will accomplish its vision of creating a brighter future with equal opportunities for our refugee communities.”

“The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program continues to spotlight young African talent and leadership that is ready to ignite the continent with innovation and positive change,” said George M. Tsiatis, CEO & Co-Founder of The Resolution Project.  We are grateful to work with such inspiring individuals and have them as part of Resolution’s community, and we are grateful to the Foundation for its continued support of this collaboration!”

Congratulations to the 2020 Social Venture Challenge Winners:

A Hand for a Refugee: Safali Libia, Kataike Viola, and Kevin Wanai at Makerere University in Uganda

A Hand For a Refugee aims to raise refugee welfare and ensure sustainable support for education among refugee teenagers in the Kyangwali refugee community by providing training for passionfruit farming, a market for the fruit they grow, and financial literacy training along with savings and credit support. 

“The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program continues to spotlight young African talent and leadership that is ready to ignite the continent with innovation and positive change,” said George M. Tsiatis, CEO & Co-Founder of The Resolution Project.  We are grateful to work with such inspiring individuals and have them as part of Resolution’s community, and we are grateful to the Foundation for its continued support of this collaboration!”

Congratulations to the 2020 Social Venture Challenge Winners:

A Hand for a Refugee: Safali Libia, Kataike Viola, and Kevin Wanai at Makerere University in Uganda

A Hand For a Refugee aims to raise refugee welfare and ensure sustainable support for education among refugee teenagers in the Kyangwali refugee community by providing training for passionfruit farming, a market for the fruit they grow, and financial literacy training along with savings and credit support. 

Fona Health Initiative: Samson Idabu at the University of Cape Town in South Africa

Fona Health Initiative is a community education project based in Tanzania that trains vulnerable youth and rural communities about nutritional education and nutritional supplements. It also provides them with the tools and knowledge to produce a pumpkin seed and chickpea supplement.

Holistic Organization: Annelle Kayisire, Crepin Kayisire, and Kevin Kayisire at Wellesley College in the US and the African Leadership University in Mauritius

Holistic Organization is providing out-of-school teen mothers and children from Nyamata in Rwanda’s Eastern province with the intensive vocational, psychological, and social tools they need to be successful.

Impart Reading: Maame Essel and Dorcas Kwofie at University of Cape Coast in Ghana

Impart Reading will provide access to books, both through mobile and brick and mortar libraries, to encourage reading, English comprehension, and to improve literacy in Cape Coast, Ghana.

ISOKOFARM: Kevin Gansa and Lawali Ghislain at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon

Operating out of Kigali, Rwanda, ISOKOFARM is a mobile app startup that allows the exchange of relevant information between farmers and marketers. This platform aims to address the shortcomings of inefficient and unreliable physical markets.

Kibera Canaan Library and Youth Empowerment Centre: Grace Bako and Doris Mwangi at the University of Cape Town in South Africa

Kibera-Caanan Library and Youth Empowerment Centre aims to provide free access to books, mentorship, and technical skills training for youth in Kibera, Kenya to improve literacy and create job opportunities.

Kwabeng Robotics and Mentorship Hub: Ofori Richard and Yamoah Veronica at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana

The Kwabeng Robotics and Mentorship Hub seeks to ignite the desire of students to pursue STEM majors at the tertiary level, slow school dropout rates and improve academic performance.

Laboratory Rats: Miracle Ainembabazi and Ashaba Annah at Makerere University in Uganda

The venture aims to train women in Kamuganguzi sub-county, Kabale district, South Western Uganda to rear laboratory rats, sell them, and earn income. The initiative also seeks to improve the quality of scientific research results.

Project Ignite Her: Lauryn Mwale at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland

Project Ignite Her is a social enterprise designed to close the gender STEM gap. It will be a curated online platform and a community fostering the holistic development of young women on their journey to success. The team will provide advice, support, and mentorship to allow young women to thrive academically and professionally in the field in which black women are deeply underrepresented. 

Small Holder Farmer Innovations: Kondwani Kamsikiri and Godwelll Manda at EARTH University in Costa Rica

Small Holder Farmer Innovations is dedicated to increasing agricultural production amongst the smallholder farmers of Malawi. The venture seeks to introduce, produce, and distribute leading carbon-based organo-mineral fertilizers to minimize production costs and improve soil health.

ABOUT THE MASTERCARD FOUNDATION

The Mastercard Foundation works with visionary organizations to enable young people in Africa and Indigenous communities in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work.  It is one of the largest, private foundations in the world with a mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion to create an inclusive and equitable world. The Foundation was created by Mastercard in 2006 as an independent organization with its own Board of Directors and management. For more information on the Foundation, please visit: www.mastercardfdn.org. Follow the Foundation @MastercardFdn on Twitter (#MCFScholars).

ABOUT THE RESOLUTION PROJECT

The Resolution Project is a unique pathway to action for aspiring young leaders committed to changing the world. Founded in 2007, Resolution identifies, equips, and empowers promising young leaders with the support, skills, and funding they need to make a positive impact today. Resolution discovers young social entrepreneurs through Social Venture Challenges held at undergraduate youth conferences around the world, such as the Youth Assembly at the United Nations, the Clinton Global Initiative University, and others. Resolution enables the winners of its competitions to make a positive impact through Resolution Fellowships, which include dynamic, hands-on support, mentorship, and grants to implement their social ventures. Over 520 Resolution Fellows, in 80 countries on all six inhabited continents (including all across the United States) are working on over 320 social ventures in high-impact fields such as water, food, sustainable development, education, energy and the environment, equality and empowerment, health and wellness, and humanitarian relief. Their efforts have benefitted 2.7 million people and counting. Supporting our Fellows are over 500 volunteers, a dedicated staff, and dozens of partners from the public and private sectors. Together, we are building a generation of leaders with a commitment to social responsibility www.resolutionproject.org.

Filmed 29th August 2020: Africax5 Presents The Perspective with Author, Educator and Melanin Specialist Jo Dash (@jo.dash) www.themelanineffect.co.uk - Filmed and Edited by @thinkweike

Innovation may be the key to helping ease the financial burdens and fundraising challenges faced by many historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) across the country.

This week, Xavier Peoples unveiled HBCU Change, a new app that aims to raise $1 billion for HBCUs over the next five years by collecting spare change from users. Much like popular round-up apps Acorns and Chime, HBCU Change works by rounding up credit or debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and then automatically donating those funds to the user’s HBCU of choice. The app also keeps track of the user’s contributions and displays which schools and class years are raising the most funds.

HBCUs have always been vulnerable to economic fluctuations,” says HBCU Change founder Xavier Peoples, a serial entrepreneur who was named to BLACK ENTERPRISE’s BE Modern Man class of 2016. “Now, the impact of the pandemic has presented an even more serious threat to the stability of our beloved schools. I created HBCU Change to empower alums, philanthropists, and general supporters to give back to these institutions in a consistent and accessible way.”

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To meet their ambitious goal, Peoples and his development team will execute a strategic social media campaign and influencer marketing tactics. The funds raised in this effort will go toward school endowment and scholarship funds.

Several Black institutions are participating in the HBCU Change campaign, including Alabama State University, Benedict College, Clark Atlanta University, Florida A&M University, Fort Valley State University, and Morris Brown College. Additional schools are expected to sign on throughout the rest of the year.

“Some of these schools have received major donations but the reality is that you can’t always rely on these major donations,” Peoples told Forbes. “This app provides consistency that they can count on. They will be able to engage alumni and allow alumni to give back and have a tremendous impact on the school.”

He added, “I understand how vital the HBCU system is to the Black ecosystem.”

In 2009, Jeanette J. Epps became the first Black woman astronaut for NASA. Next year, she’ll make history again as the first Black woman to live and work on the International Space Station for an extended period of time.

NASA announced this week that Epps has been assigned to the Boeing Starliner-1 mission, her first official spaceflight since joining the agency. Prior to joining NASA, she worked as a technical intelligence officer for the CIA.

“Epps will join NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Josh Cassada for a six-month expedition planned for a launch in 2021 to the orbiting space laboratory,” the organization wrote in an August 25 statement. “The flight will follow NASA certification after a successful uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 and Crew Flight Test with astronauts.

“NASA assigned Williams and Cassada to the Starliner-1 mission in August 2018. The spaceflight will be the first for Cassada and third for Williams, who spent long-duration stays aboard the space station on Expeditions 14/15 and 32/33.”

Epps took to social media to share the news:

“I’m super excited to join Suni Williams and Josh Cassada on the first operational Boeing crewed mission to the International Space Station,” she said in a video shared on Twitter, where she has more than 40,000 followers. “I’ve flown in helicopters with Suni flying and I’ve flown in the backseat of a T-38 with Josh flying, and they are both wonderful people to work with, so I’m looking forward to the mission.”

Back in 1983, Sally Ride became the first woman to fly into space. That same year, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Guion S. Bluford became the first African American to travel into space.

City of Cape Town told to return confiscated materials

The City of Cape Town's Anti-Land Invasion Unit (ALIU) will not be allowed to evict people or demolish their structures, whether occupied or unoccupied, without a court order while the country remains in a state of national disaster.

Judges Shehnaz Meer and Rosheni Allie in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday afternoon granted an interim relief stating that the City must have a court order to evict anyone or demolish a home.

The case was brought by the SA Human Rights Commission following a string of demolitions and evictions by the City of Cape Town in recently-occupied informal settlements. The removal of Bulelani Qolani from his shack by City officers while naked was widely covered in the media. Other respondents listed in the case included the Ministers of Human Settlements, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and Police, and SAPS national commissioner.

Judges Meer and Allie also ordered that in cases where a court order is obtained for an eviction or demolition, the City must execute the order in a lawful and respectful manner that "upholds the dignity of the evicted persons". They said the City is "expressly prohibited from using excessive force" and may not destroy or confiscate material belonging to those evicted.

The court has given the City a week to return "all building material and personal possessions" taken by the ALIU since 1 May and ordered that it pay R2,000 to the parties cited by the Economic Freedom Fighters in its submissions to the court.

The City was further interdicted from "considering, adjudicating and awarding" bids and tenders related to demolition services for the ALIU.

The court also instructed SAPS members present at a court-sanctioned demolition or eviction to ensure that the actions are being lawfully executed and to "protect the dignity of the persons evicted".

Costs of the application will be shouldered by the City of Cape Town, except for the costs of the hearing of 25 July.

The City is yet to respond to our request for comment on the ruling today.

In October, hearings will be held to determine whether or not the municipality has the authority to execute demolitions or evictions without a court order after the end of the state of national disaster.

In this video, we will be introducing you to five innovative and inspiring entrepreneurs who have created unique solutions to the problems facing their local African communities. Do you know of any inspiring minds that are driving change in Africa? Let us know in the comments below!

Social media giant Facebook has announced that they have been removing organizations, groups, and content linked to those who call for and/or advocate violence. These include United States-based militia organizations and QAnon.

They are taking action against groups that utilize Facebook Pages, Groups, and Instagram accounts that are associated with offline anarchist groups that support violent acts amid protests. They have stated that they already remove content calling for or advocating violence and ban organizations and individuals that proclaim a violent mission.

So far, Facebook has removed over 790 groups, 100 Pages, and 1,500 ads tied to QAnon from Facebook, blocked over 300 hashtags across Facebook and Instagram, and imposed restrictions on over 1,950 Groups and 440 Pages on Facebook and over 10,000 accounts on Instagram.

For the militia organizations and groups as well as those encouraging riots and violence, including those who may identify as Antifa, they have removed over 980 groups, 520 Pages, and 160 ads from Facebook—as well as restricted over 1,400 hashtags related to these groups and organizations on Instagram.

Facebook has updated its focus on its Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy. This was based on seeing growing movements that have been celebrating violent acts, showing that they have access to weapons and threatening their use of them. The policy is expanding by addressing organizations and movements that have shown significant risks to public safety but that do not meet the criteria to be designated as a dangerous organization and being banned from having access to this platform. People can post content that supports these movements and groups, as long as they do not violate the specific content policies posted. There will be restrictions on their ability to organize on the platform. 

Very few academics or policy makers are talking about the impact of climate change on heritage. Yet heritage is essential for social wellbeing, for identity creation, for safeguarding traditional knowledge and livelihoods and for sustainable development.

The conversations taking place are mainly on the effects of climate change in wealthier countries. One recent study estimates that only 1% of research on the impacts of climate change on heritage is related to Africa. Yet climate change has already resulted in loss and damage to African heritage.

Three of us are contributing authors to the Africa chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change's sixth assessment report. Our research for the report has drawn our attention to the total lack of quantifiable data on the impacts of climate change on heritage in sub-Saharan Africa. So we teamed up with a climate scientist with years of experience working on the continent and set about highlighting the threat of different kinds of climate change and climate variability to heritage in Africa.

Our research is conclusive. Without significant intervention some of Africa's most important heritage will be lost as a result of the direct and indirect impacts of climate change over the coming decades. There is a need for research into the impacts of climate change on different forms of cultural heritage in Africa, and to highlight the possible harmful effects these losses will have on society more generally.

The next ten years will be a critical period in which research agendas can be developed that will have a practical application for the management of African heritage in the face of climate change.

The bad news

Coastal erosion and sea-level rise have damaged African World Heritage Sites. The Roman city of Sabratha on the Libyan coast and the colonial forts along the coastline of Ghana are slipping into the sea. Natural sites are also under threat. Relict Guinean coastal forests have largely disappeared, partly through coastal erosion.

By 2050, Guinea, The Gambia, Nigeria, Togo, Bénin, Congo, Tunisia, Tanzania (including Zanzibar) and the Comoros will all be at significant risk from coastal erosion and sea-level rise.

Villages and towns associated with the historic Swahili Indian Ocean trading networks are all forecast to suffer significant loss from sea-level rise and coastal erosion in the coming decades. These are almost all located on the coasts of Mozambique, mainland Tanzania, Kenya, the Comoro Islands, Zanzibar and Madagascar.

A host of unique heritage locations are built on coral, sand or mud - all at elevations less than 10 metres above sea level. These include Ibo Island in the Quirimbas Archipelago in northern Mozambique, Shanga and Pate islands in Kenya, Pemba and the ruins of Kaole in Tanzania, Mahilaka in Madagascar and Suakin in Sudan. A combination of underlying geology and low elevation make these sites extremely vulnerable to coastal erosion.

In addition, low-lying World Heritage Sites that are densely populated, such as Lamu Old Town and the Stone Town of Zanzibar, are located in regions of Africa predicted to be most severely impacted by shoreline retreat.

Inland of the coast, the World Heritage mud-built town of Djenné, on the Inland Niger Delta, is suffering multiple threats, exacerbated by climate change. Rock art sites in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park in South Africa are experiencing biodeterioration due to microbial activity arising from increased humidity.

But African heritage is predominantly lived heritage, which presents unique opportunities for heritage conservation.

Why a site like Djenné matters

Take Djenné in Mali, a town composed almost entirely of earthen buildings. Because of its unique vernacular architecture and its iconic mosque, it was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1988. There has been a conspicuous degradation of its mud architecture. The reasons are complex but climate change has definitely worsened the process of loss.

The lowering of the high water stand of the Inland Niger Delta has meant high quality mud has become scarcer. Mud bricks must be sourced further afield at greater cost, which locals simply can't afford. The result is buildings being repaired in cheaper materials such as concrete and fired clay bricks.

Traditional building methods are often perceived as being at odds with modernity and globalisation. But earthen buildings such as those at Djenné emit fewer greenhouse gases, consume less energy and maintain a high level of internal thermal comfort. They are more sustainable against climate change than brick and breeze block construction.

Some hope

Heritage has unseen potential. Traditional custodianship and community engagement will be at the forefront of a sustainable future.

The good news is that five years ago the World Heritage Convention adopted Unesco's World Heritage and Sustainable Development Policy. The policy is built on the principles of human rights, equality and long-term sustainability. It's potentially groundbreaking for African heritage, which has been beset by a colonial legacy of centralised heritage management.

It represents an opportunity for the restoration of traditional custodianship and local community engagement in heritage management. As heritage is reinserted into local lifeways, communities are able to reengage with traditional ways of doing things, which are often much more in tune with the environment. In this, African countries have the opportunity to be at the forefront of sustainable development.

And in our intergovernmental climate report, the Africa chapter has for the first time included heritage in its assessment. It identifies heritage as critical for a sustainable future.

Resetting the research agenda towards a sustainable heritage in the face of climate change will not only enable reengagement with the past, but will help mitigate the impacts of climate change beyond heritage.

Joanne Clarke, Senior lecturer, University of East Anglia; Elizabeth Edna Wangui, Associate professor, Ohio University; Grace W. Ngaruiya, Lecturer, Kenyatta University, and Nick Brooks, Research fellow, University of East Anglia

Bulawayo, Zimbabwe — Oluwaseun Sangoleye's son developed rickets after rejecting baby formula. So she started a business to make natural baby cereal from locally-sourced ingredients in Nigeria.

"My personal experience opened me up to the dearth of nutrient dense, affordable meal solutions for infants and young children," Sangoleye told IPS. Baby Grubz products are targeted at low and middle-income women with children aged six months to three years.

Sangoleye is one of a small but growing number of women who are heading up agribusinesses in Africa, some of which are producing innovative products to combat malnutrition.

While there are no conclusive figures on the number of women participating in agribusinesses across the continent, the African Women in Agribusiness Network (AWAN) states it works in 42 African countries, linking 1,600 women's networks in different sectors.

In the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) says healthy diets, including fruits; vegetables and protein-rich foods cost more than $1.90 a day -- the global poverty threshold. Estimates show than more than three billion people cannot afford a healthy diet and in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, 57 percent of the population is affected.

Since opening Shais Foods in 2014, Mirriam Nalomba has sought to transform grain-based mono-diets in Zambia by offering baby cereals from millet, sorghum, cassava, soya bean and Vitamin A orange maize.

"We cannot use imported foods to combat malnutrition; locally-grown crops will produce nutritious foods," Nalomba told IPS.

The Food Sustainability Index (FSI) developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Barilla Centre for Food and Nutrition (BCFN), shows that Zambia has high prevalence of malnutrition and stunting for children under five years of age as scored under nutritional challenges, one of the three pillars of the FSI.

Chronic malnutrition affects 39 percent of children under five years in Zambia, according to the FAO.

Nalomba's business model of using locally-grown crops has proved foresightful as COVID-19 lockdowns have disrupted markets across the continent. But she lamented that COVID-19 restrictions have affected her plans of expanding her market. Nalomba has started selling her products online.

Sangoleye told IPS that while the COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult to access quality raw materials, she had gained more customers during the lockdown. It's also led her to start innovating in other areas of packaging.

"One of our distributors shared an emotional story of how three women bought a jar of Grubz and shared it into three equal parts for their babies to augment their breast milk," Sangoleye said.

"This has challenged us to start looking into the production of smaller packs that are more affordable and guarantees food safety for the children with compliance to physical distancing."

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a 10 percent decrease in sales for Sanavita, a Tanzanian social enterprise, which supports more than 1,000 smallholder farmers growing Orange Fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP), pro vitamin A maize, and iron and zinc-fortified beans, which are processed into nutritious flours.

Sanavita sells about 1,000 kg of flour each month and estimates that it has about 10,000 customers.

"We are aiming to end hidden hunger in Tanzania and this means growth for us," Sanavita founder Jolenta Joseph told IPS. In October, the FAO listed Tanzania as one of the African countries to be hardest-hit by adverse weather in the coming years. The low-income country is currently listed by the U.N. agency as not having achieved its hunger target of halving the proportion of the chronically undernourished with "lack of progress of deterioration".

Malnutrition on the rise but COVID-19 will make it worse

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fragility of current food systems and has amplified poverty, inequalities and food insecurity, according to the BCFN, which has outlined 10 bold interdisciplinary actions for the transformation of food systems.

In an earlier interview with IPS, Dr. Marta Antonelli, head of research at BCFN, and Katarzyna Dembska, a researcher at BCFN, said the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the ability of those who are food insecure to buy food. As a result there is a risk in the decline of dietary quality as a result of compromise employment and the revocation of schemes such as school deeding programmes and shock as a result of the breakdown of food markets.

COVID-19 has impacted on food systems, increased food prices have a direct impact on the quality of diets, preventing access to fresh fruits and vegetables as well as dairy, meat and fish as a result of people failing to reach wholesale and retail markets, the researchers said.

Debisi Araba, a public policy and strategy specialist and managing director at the Alliance for a Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), told IPS humanity has been innovating for a long time to ensure people are nourished. It is important to promote agriculture innovation in technologies, processes, programmes and systems in private enterprise and public policy.

With the current COVID-19 crisis, health and nutrition is suffering from multiple shocks, Lawrence Haddad, executive director of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), told IPS.

"SMEs across Africa and Asia are vital in the pandemic response but their ability to operate is being put under increasing strain," Haddad said, adding that SMEs need continued support and investment to adapt and innovate.

Investing in agriculture innovation

But COVID-19 has not been the only obstacle to the growth of these women-led agribusinesses.

Amandla Ooko-Ombaka, economist and associate partner at global management firm McKinsey, told IPS that women face a combination of challenges in starting and running an agribusiness because of their disproportionate access to information and technology to access agronomic advice and payments. She added that women consistently have less access to capital to increase their productivity and are 50 percent less likely than men to own their land.

In sub-Saharan Africa, women constitute the highest average agriculture labour force participation rate in the world of more than 50 percent in many countries, especially in West Africa, according to the FAO.

"Food systems worldwide are decades behind other sectors in adopting digital technology and innovation," Ooko-Ombaka added.

"The growth of mobile access has been an important unlock for innovation in African agriculture for most of our countries 70-90 percent of land is held by smallholder farmers. If we cannot reach them, the impact in the sector is muted," Ooko-Ombaka told IPS via e-mail.

Ooko-Ombaka said in sub-Saharan Africa about 400 digital agriculture solutions have come to market -- 60 percent of which came to market only in the last two years -- serving user needs, including financial services, market linkages, supply chain management, advisory and information and business intelligence.

An analysis by McKinsey notes that the COVID-19 crisis has disrupted food systems in Africa but continues to open the gap for innovation.

Ooko-Ombaka says the agriculture value chain can benefit from innovation, particularly in the COVID-19 era where profound shifts are projected around marketplaces, making it critical for farmers to have access to markets.

"With restrictions on movement, interacting with farmers and value-chain partners digitally may become more important," Ooko-Ombaka said, predicting that food-distribution chains, particularly in urban areas, are very likely to become more digitised.

Farmers may increasingly seek e-advice, digital savings products, or access to government subsidies that might be offered through digital wallets, she said adding that agricultural players can explore digital services, including marketing, extension to farmers, financial products and supply chain tracking.

Determination and perseverance needed

Despite the obstacles the women are positive and committed to their work.

"It is not easy running a woman-led business, but hard work, passion, commitment and the ability to plan and set priorities are keys for success," Sanavita founder Joseph said.

Maame Akua Manful, founder of a Ghanaian social enterprise Fieldswhite Co. Ltd, which makes OFSP yoghurt, concurs that running a woman-led agribusiness comes with a lot of sacrifice and spontaneous decision-making.

"It is not easy learning how to manage a team of men and communicate in a way that they would understand, but I feel that with determination and perseverance every woman can bring out that entrepreneurial ability in her to make things work," she told IPS.

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If you don’t stand for something...you’ll fall for anything ! Creating crowns of confidence is the name of my game ! 🙏🏽💓 Thank you @kmbc9news for sharing my movement and vision for @rmhckc !

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More and more consumers are turning to organic and plant-based products in the beauty and wellness industry. One Brooklyn-based entrepreneur found a way to use turmeric and other healthy superfoods to make unique latte powders that promise to give consumers beautiful glowing skin. Meet Trinity Mouzon Wofford, the co-founder and CEO of Golde, a wellness company that creates different health and beauty products using turmeric.

“Turmeric is a really fascinating one because the benefits are from head to toe,” said Wofford in an interview with Inscape. “Because it’s so anti-inflammatory, it will target any areas of imbalance. Inflammation isn’t just about joint pain — it has a huge impact on your skin, your digestion, your immunity, and even mental health!”

Wofford uses the superfood to make items ranging from face masks, detox powders, and healthy latte powders. She also offers DIY recipes to help empower consumers to take charge of their self-care regimen, believing the holistic remedies she learned growing up to be vital in her daily health regimen.

“I’ve always been big on wellness and holistic health. I grew up in a crunchy town upstate not far from Vermont,” she said. “I was also raised by a single parent who was dealing with an autoimmune disease: Rheumatoid Arthritis. At one point, my mom switched over to seeing a holistic physician and saw a huge improvement in her symptoms.”

She added, “Making wellness more accessible means tuning into how to make the experience feel good from start to finish — a good price point, great branding, and a delicious product don’t need to be optional just because it’s healthy.”

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Iced turmeric latte at home 💛 Mix 2 tsp Original Turmeric latte blend with 1 oz hot water. Add honey if you like! Pour over ice and top with your fav milk 🥛 @thatcurlytop

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