We help solve problems - Aneth Basu Story

Aneth shows off the improvement in her flour packaging after receiving support from CARE's Her Money, Her Life project. © Photo credit: CARE (2024)

Aneth shows off the improvement in her flour packaging after receiving support from CARE's Her Money, Her Life project. © Photo credit: CARE (2024)

Aneth Basu finds it deeply satisfying to be someone on whom family members can rely for financial support. This is a common sentiment in rural Tanzania’s communally oriented society, where the ability to help others is reflective of one’s own abundance and of the quality of one’s relationships with family and friends. Hence, when CARE asks Aneth how her relationships have changed as her business had grown, the ability to support the family financially is at the top of her mind. “Sometimes, we help solve problems on my husband’s side of the family, and on my side of the family too,” Aneth says with pride.

Today, just two years after engaging with CARE in the Her Money, Her Life project, Aneth’s nutritious flour is in demand by customers living as far away as Bumbuli, Dodoma, and even Arusha. Her many repeat customers attest to her success in creating a product that is tasty and of high quality. As a result of her flour and cake sales, Aneth’s average monthly income has nearly quadrupled over the past year, from 80,000 Tshs ($32) to 300,000 Tshs ($120) per month. She now contributes nearly equally to the household’s income—her husband Onesmo’s schoolteacher income is 650,000 Tshs per month, but 50% of his salary is used to repay a government loan taken to build a house in town, so his monthly take-home pay is similar to Aneth’s monthly income.

Through the Her Money, Her Life project, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, CARE supports tea and spice farmers through six core intervention areas: (1) collective investment and agri-fund, (2) information through technology, (3) investment opportunities for farmers and cooperatives, (4) marketing and sales, (5) women’s leadership, and (6) land acquisition.

Who is Aneth Basu?

Aneth Basu is an entrepreneur and a mother of two living in Bumbuli Mission village, in Tanga Region of northeastern Tanzania. She produces and packages a nutritious flour blend composed of seven types of grains—maize, rice, soya bean, sorghum, finger millet, cassava, and pumpkin seeds, which her customers use to make healthy porridge for their children.

Aneth started this business five years ago, before meeting any CARE staff, but at that time she was working on a more artisanal level. She processed small quantities of flour and sold it to her neighbors and other community members. She also occasionally baked cakes for events such as weddings.

 

Aneth’s Secrets to Success

When asked what advice she would give to another women entrepreneur, Aneth is happy to share her secrets, which are relevant to agro-processing entrepreneurs everywhere. Firstly, I would advise her to understand the ingredients and ratios so she doesn’t compromise the quality. It’s important to be very clean and to adhere to hygiene standards.” When CARE staff met Aneth and learned about her nutritious flour processing business, they quickly connected her with Tanzania’s Small Industries Development Organization (SIDO) to receive formal training in processing and quality standards. Through this training, Aneth learned about proper ratios of various types of grains, how to mix them, and how to ensure quality to make the flour more nutritious while decreasing the risk of aflatoxins.

Understand the market, because you can’t start the business without knowing the market

Aneth Basu's advice to any woman starting a business

Aneth sells her flour to neighbors, to fellow VSLA members, and to government officials and other more distant customers to whom CARE introduced her through community events and farmers’ exhibitions. Many of Aneth’s clients are parents of young children who use her flour to make porridge, so Aneth takes feedback seriously, explaining: “It’s important to understand the behavior patterns of the people you’re selling to, and to be flexible in responding who use her flour to make porridge, so Aneth takes feedback seriously, explaining: “It’s important to understand the behavior patterns of the people you’re selling to, and to be flexible in responding to those. Hear their reactions and feedback on the product, whether it is causing health issues, and work to resolve those.” 

Aneth does not explicitly say that she would tell other female entrepreneurs to be thrifty, resourceful, and strategic in their financial management, but it is clear that she understands the importance of wise money management, even on a relatively small scale. When CARE facilitated Aneth’s travel to the Nanenane exhibition, Aneth saved the small per diem payment she received from CARE. She used that money to invest in soap ingredients, and she and her husband are now making soap for sale—a wise investment that has turned into a valuable additional income source. Nanenane means Farmers’ Day, and is an international agricultural exposition held annually in Dodoma

Mutual Support and True Partnership

Life can be stressful for Aneth and her husband Onesmo. Their daughter Jiana, age 8, is at boarding school, and requires regular school fees. Their son Ivan, age 5, is at home and requires full-time supervision as he has autism and can be difficult to manage behaviorally. He needs weekly speech therapy, but the closest qualified speech therapist is in Dar es Salaam, over six hours away by bus. Aneth takes him whenever she can, usually once every 1-2 months.

 

Aneth shares a hug with her son Ivan. © Photo credit: CARE

Life can be stressful for Aneth and her husband Onesmo. Their daughter Jiana, age 8, is at boarding school, and requires regular school fees. Their son Ivan, age 5, is at home and requires full-time supervision as he has autism and can be difficult to manage behaviorally. He needs weekly speech therapy, but the closest qualified speech therapist is in Dar es Salaam, over six hours away by bus. Aneth takes him whenever she can, usually once every 1-2 months.

Onesmo works full-time as a schoolteacher and Aneth manages her flour and cake business, but the couple operate as a team to manage business activities, household finances, and parenting responsibilities. When Aneth receives orders from customers over the phone, she prepares the ingredients and dries the grains in the sun. Onesmo takes the dried grains to the public grinding machine to process them into flour. Aneth then does the packaging and goes out into the community to make sales, while Onesmo stays home with Ivan. When orders come in from more distant customers, Onesmo drives his motorcycle to deliver the flour while Aneth watches Ivan.

The couple collaborates financially as well. Aneth takes loans from the VSLA to purchase grains, and if she hasn’t sold all the flour by the time the loan repayment date approaches, Onesmo gives her a portion of his salary to cover the repayment.

Aneth feels supported by Onesmo, and she is pleased in her newfound ability to make her own financial contributions to the family as well: “Over time, the quality of our relationship has increased in a positive way, because I’m also supporting him and contributing to household expenditures.”

When asked about her dreams for the future, Aneth smiles widely,

“I want to be CEO of my own company, and to employ many people.”

Aneth Basu