Entrepreneurship

In honor of International Women’s Day, we share a story about an inspiring woman in Nicaragua who has found independence and self-sufficiency through farming.

The great Peter Drucker once said, “Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship. The act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.” The story of Liset and Ximena Contreras embodies this quote and much more.

TechnoServe often works to measure its social impact. In our case, TechnoServe’s impact is something that will last the rest of our lives.

In Nicaragua, Iveth Juárez, a small business owner who processes and sells cereal to the local market, had attended seminars, workshops, courses and training sessions on accounting and finance. But at the end of each session, she always felt the same sense of confusion.

The region is also known for the hospitality of its Afro-Colombian population – a community that historically has suffered from neglect and discrimination. Now, however, the Nuquí community is working hard to preserve the region’s beauty while also sparking economic opportunities through eco-tourism. One of the leaders of this…

Karina Madariaga began collecting and selling recyclable materials at a young age to add to her family’s income. In 1999, she and nine others who made a living salvaging recyclables decided to a form a collection center called Oreste Plath which they would manage themselves. Their work consisted of…

Henry Gaga is a Food Technology Specialist with TechnoServe in Malawi and shares his insight into food processing in Malawi.

While working in an office job in Pretoria, South Africa, Sindi Mbambo recognized an opportunity to help her community live a healthier lifestyle. Sindi noticed her colleagues were too busy or too sick to prepare nutritious food, and were settling instead for quick, insalubrious meals. So she started peeling…

Peruvian entrepreneurs Jacob Tejada, Juan Guzmán and José Mendoza came up with a way to package cattle feed in long-lasting bags, benefiting both maize farmers and cattle farmers.

Seeking to create more economic opportunities in rural communities surrounding its mines, the polymetallic mining complex Minera Antamina initiated a local economic development project in 2007. In cooperation with TechnoServe, the five-year program aimed to strengthen small enterprises and farms in the Ancash region of northern Peru. Working with advisors…