The story

Mrs Azeema from Loung Khan Soomro village in Sindh is a 46-year old mother who, like many other women in her village, has been struggling to make ends meet.

Over 60% of Pakistan’s population live in rural areas where poverty is high. Although farming vegetables (chillies, onions, potatoes and tomatoes) provides a source of income, earnings vary because so many challenges stand in the way of growing good quality produce and getting it to market. Lack of access to horticultural business know-how affects farmers, especially women and young people trying to make a living through vegetable farming and trade.

To help address this challenge, CABI and partners developed the Strengthening Vegetable Value Chains in Pakistan (SVVCP) project, which aims to improve selected horticultural value chains and promote sustainable production and marketing opportunities.

An SVVCP project team from Sindh Agriculture University visited Mrs Azeema’s village and trained her, along with other women, in ways to create value-added products in their own homes such as green chili chutney and pickles.

The group created delicious new products to sell, but a new hurdle presented itself – marketing. In a society where women are discouraged from selling in their local market towns, they had to find a way to overcome social norms and bring in an income.

Mrs Azeema called upon the support of male members of her family, encouraging them to sell on her behalf. They visited different local markets where they met with prospective new customers.

With perseverance, Mrs Azeema gradually started receiving orders from different retailers. Most recently, her team approached buyers in Khairpur and Ranipur markets, winning lots of new orders. Mrs Azeema expects to receive more in the future – enough to bring about a positive change not only to her, but to her women’s group and their families.