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“You need to have a clear vision and persevere” - Sarah Ruben’s Story

The Nitunze group sings an appreciative song about the Her Money, Her Life project. Sarah is on the left. © Photo credit CARE

The Nitunze group sings an appreciative song about the Her Money, Her Life project. Sarah is on the left. © Photo credit CARE

By Elizabeth Farme January 24, 2025

“You need to have a clear vision and persevere.” This is the advice that the six members of the Nitunze Spice Group, led by Sarah Ruben, say they would give to other women entrepreneurs. The group is young, having just formed in 2024, but its members already have important business lessons to share, ranging from the inspirational (“You need to have a clear vision”) to the practical (“Make sure you have the right training”) to the cautionary (“Don’t sell your product on credit!”).

Forging Relationships

For Sarah, chairwoman of the Nitunze Spice Group, participation in the Her Money, Her Life project has brought a host of benefits in just two years, strengthening relationships with her neighbors, building new skills and opening up new market channels, and even transforming her relationship with her husband.

CARE began working in Tanga Region, a tea and spice growing area, in 2022. Through the Her Money, Her Life project, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, CARE supports tea and spice farmers through six core intervention areas:

  • Collective investment and Agri-fund,
  • Information through technology,
  • Investment opportunities for farmers and cooperatives,
  • Marketing and sales,
  • Women’s leadership, and
  • Land acquisition.

As a starting point, staff identified existing local groups and transformed them into village savings and lending associations (VSLAs). As the group members gained experience in collective saving and lending, they became skilled in financial management and developed closer relationships.

Once strong bonds of trust had been established among VSLA members, CARE broached the idea of collective investments within the VSLAs, and helped groups think through how to establish and manage group businesses. Following these discussions, some farmers came together to cultivate small communal farms, while others pooled their money to engage in spice drying, soap making, or sugar trading together. Most of these group enterprises were formed within a single VSLA, but they did not necessarily encompass all members of the VSLA. CARE also connected three VSLAs from the same area with a local specialty tea company called Kazi Yetu, which provided seedlings for new varieties of spices.

 

 

 

Spice is our family business

says Daudi, Sarah’s husband as they grow cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper.

Her Money, Her Life project participant | Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies | CARE Tanzania

Sarah was one of the first farmers interested in collective spice processing, but doing so in a large group felt difficult, and many members of her VSLA did not want to make an investment that would require a lot of time. So, with advice from the community-based trainer (a local volunteer trained and closely supported by CARE) Sarah approached like-minded women in her VSLA and neighboring ones about forming their own spice grinding business. Several of them had had the same idea, so they were quick to agree. CARE took the women to another village to learn and gain inspiration from the more experienced Lutindi Tea, Herbs, and Spices Group, and sent them to the Small Industries Development Organization (SIDO) to receive training in professional spice processing. The women then pooled funds to buy a small grinding machine and spices and built a small greenhouse-type solar spice drying structure with thick plastic sheeting.

 

Sarah Reuben at Her Farm

As the six women reflected on the process of establishing the group, they identified several factors that helped make the process smooth. In addition to being spice growers, all members already had experience in various collective investments through their VSLAs, so engaging in another one did not feel too daunting. Furthermore, each of the group members had prior experience taking VSLA loans, so taking an additional 200,000 Tshs (approximately $74 in loans to pool as investment capital did not feel like an insurmountable task, even when combined with 50,000 Tshs ($18) of their own funds. Many women had already taken significantly larger loans.

Most importantly, the women trusted each other. They knew each other because they lived in neighboring villages, and they were all committed to each other, and to the business idea. In the larger VSLAs, they explained, “some members are committed, while others aren’t.” But in this small, self-selected group, the bonds come more easily: “We understand each other, and our weaknesses and strengths.” Women enjoy sharing the labor and using the group’s equipment, using the weighing machine, grinding spices, sealing the packages, placing the labels on the packaging, etc.

“We understand each other, and our weaknesses and strengths.”

Women members in Nitunze Group

Her Money, Her Life project | Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies

Diversifying Market Channels

Cardamom is the third most expensive spice in the world, after saffron and vanilla, but spice farmers like Sarah and other members of the Nitunze Group often receive low prices for their product from brokers

Even farmers who produce organically, as Sarah and Daudi do, have little opportunity to negotiate prices as they wait for brokers come to their door to buy their product. CARE connected Sarah and Daudi to Viridium, a Tanzanian company that processes spices for export to the Middle East and

Europe. Today, the couple earns 3,500 Tshs ($1.29), for every kilogram of raw cardamom—a price four times higher than what they used to receive when they sold to brokers. I didn’t even know that cardamom has that much value,” Sarah marvels aloud.

Like many smallholder farmers, Sarah and Daudi understand the importance of diversified livelihoods and income streams that provide income throughout the year. Raw cardamom sales are profitable, but the business is seasonal. Dried spices, on the other hand, can be stored and sold year-round. Hence, for them, selling a mix of products at varying levels of processing and through multiple market channels is a wise approach

 

Nitunze group members and CARE staff at the Nitunze group's solar dryer. © Photo credit CARE

“Before, I was living the traditional life, but now I’m an ambassador… Now we listen to each other, and the conversation is positive,”

says Daudi, Sarah’s husband.

Her Money, Her Life project participant | Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies | CARE Tanzania

Tasting Equality and Building Dreams

Participation in the Her Money, Her Life project has had an impact on the family in another important way as well: Sarah and Daudi’s relationship has evolved into one that is more balanced, more respectful, and more loving. Daudi admits that he has not always been particularly egalitarian, but explains that he began to change following training by CARE: “Before, I was living the traditional life, but now I’m an ambassador… Now we listen to each other, and the conversation is positive,” he explains. Sarah appreciates the practical implications of this shift: “My husband is helping me at home, so when I’m out for group activities he takes responsibility for things at home. Now he’s even cooking, which he never did before! I had to teach him how to make certain dishes, but he already knew how to make others.” Daudi also plans to officially transfer three acres of the family’s land, currently in his name, to Sarah for spice cultivation. “I already used that land to cultivate spices,” he explains, “but I didn’t involve my wife in managing the income I earned. Now she and I harvest and control the money together—we collaborate.”

 

These changes over the past two years have enabled Sarah to dream bigger. “I look forward to managing the land myself, and to planting trees on it because cardamom needs shade,” she explains. “I also dream of having a huge business, my own business, to do spice grinding and packaging. And I aspire for my children to get their education and to chase their dreams.” Today, thanks to her own hard work, close collaboration with her neighbors, and some targeted support by CARE, Sarah has taken the first steps towards making those dreams a reality

I look forward to managing the land myself, and to planting trees on it because cardamom needs shade,”

says Sarah Reuben

Her Money, Her Life project participant | Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies | CARE Tanzania

Sarah Reuben’s Journey to Success

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