The Best Solution Against Malnutrition in East Africa

Written by: Charlotte Musengimana, current TWB Bakery Operations Manager Intern

Have you ever meet with a child who is affected by malnutrition disease?

If yes, how did you feel? If no, what could you do to avoid it?

Some children in Africa, and specifically, Rwanda, are poorly fed because they are not consuming foods that provide the proper nutrients for growing. This is a serious problem as malnutrition can lead to serious effects for children, and especially as they become adults.

Good news!

The Women’s Bakery (TWB) is coming throughout East Africa as a social change maker to train and empower women how to source local ingredients FOR healthier, more nutritious products.

Women that go through the TWB training program receive knowledge to bake the best nutritious bread for their family and serve it to the community for an affordable price.

In this work, TWB is hoping to improve the standards of life for the women we work with, and eventually, for those whom consume our bread.

To prevent malnutrition in Africa, lets gather together with this opportunity from TWB by supporting these women who are the backbone of their families.

There are so many ways to support: through buying at least one piece of bread every day, or through supporting our programs so we can do this work.

 Enjoy life with healthy bread!

From Scratch: Our Flagship Story

Building something from scratch—now there’s a concept we know well at The Women’s Bakery. From our founders who built our Bakery in A Box model from the ground up, to the women in each of our bakery locations around East Africa that bake highly nutritious bread from locally sourced ingredients: we build things from scratch daily. It’s part of our culture: we push, strive, overcome and accomplish in order to further our mission of empowering women through business and education.

We are strong women baking bread... and building financial models, breaking into new markets, recipe testing, operating, organizing, and training. The list is endless.

Our most recent building project, quite literally, has been our effort to create a new Flagship Bakery: a space to propel our brand, display the ultimate success of our model, and sell nutritious bread. The Women’s Bakery Flagship is an inviting environment for Kigali, Rwanda customers to enjoy, interact and collaborate in while learning about and supporting our social enterprise model. It’s a space with higher production capacity to meet growing market demands, a hub for TWB product and marketing innovation, a centralized training center for future TWB programs, a single office location for cohesion as a bakery and organization.

It’s a model for TWB bakeries everywhere.

Building something from scratch takes work. It takes grit. It takes passion and endurance. But those are things that the staff at The Women’s Bakery embodies well. It has been an inspiration to see everyone put their hands to the challenging task of doing something we’ve never done before. But we’re doing it. We’re building it up from scratch: design, processes, systems, products. And it’s going to be AWESOME. It’s going to showcase #breadpower and we cannot wait to share it with you.

Coming soon, The Women’s Bakery Flagship.

Markey's Ted Talk Now Available for Streaming

Friends, family, and supporters of TWB:

It's here. 

Last year, in October, Markey delivered a Ted Talk as part of TedxGateway Arch in St. Louis.

 In her talk, Markey shared about her story in launching The Women's Bakery and also, how we can all reimagine the power of bread. 

You can view the video here. 

Watch it, share it, and spread the #breadpower. 

Why Bread for Breakfast?

No matter where you are in the world, most families take breakfast in the morning.

However, it is not just that they take breakfast, but it is also interesting to know the types of foods that are prepared. Eating breakfast provides energy for your body and gives you drive for the day. Without an adequate breakfast, you are likely to feel inactive and tired throughout the day. By eating a healthful, nutritious breakfast, you are providing your body with important nutrients as well as the energy it needs to perform at its best during the day.

In particular, a breakfast high in fiber and protein can keep you full for longer and prevent tiredness throughout the day.  Eating breakfast has also been shown to improve concentration, meaning you are likely to work more efficiently. However some people still think that a healthful breakfast is expensive and that it is only for rich people. 

Here is the good news - when you take TWB breads for breakfast you are assured that you have eaten a healthful breakfast option. TWB breads are nutritious breads, made using locally available products, and are sold at an affordable price. So stop worrying about where you can get nutritious bread and go to the nearest TWB bakery!  #breadpower

"Even here, we eat breads."

“Don’t think that people in Kigali are the only ones who eat breads, even here we eat breads,” Esperance, a TWB trained woman, said.

This was a statement from a woman during a baking lesson last week, when a TWB facilitator asked her about her view on bread consumption in rural areas. She immediately replied that even though they live in a very remote area and that financial means are limited, breads are still a relevant market item for their community.

This is a belief that TWB is trying to instill. Too often in Rwanda, individuals and communities think that breads are meant for a wealthier class of society, mostly those who live in cities and have good paying jobs. We defy this belief by making sure nutritious breads are available in both rural and urban areas, for rich and low income people.

Nutritional inequity is common in rural parts of the country, as communities have less access to food, food varieties, and nutritional options for consumption. Currently, TWB is conducting a baking training in Rutsiro District, Bumba Cell. Rutsiro is one the 7 Districts of the Western Province in Rwanda. It has the highest percentages of food insecurity, 57%. In Rwanda, about 44% of children under five suffer from the effect of chronic malnutrition and statistics show that Rutsiro alone has a childhood malnutrition rate of 60% -- this makes it the area most affected by malnutrition countrywide. The consumption of foods rich in nutrients such as proteins and iron is very low.

We are very sure and confident that if women and children of the Rutsiro District can have our nutritious breads locally available, and at affordable price, this will improve their nutritional status. Bread should be available to everyone – with nutritional value – and this belief guides our everyday work for The Women’s Bakery. 

Music & Bread: Reflections on 'Bread Beats' in Boulder

Earlier this month, TWB partnered with Emily Scott Robinson to promote our work in the Boulder, Colorado area. Our team facilitated a benefit concert at Shine Restaurant & Gathering Place, not far from the University of Colorado - Boulder campus. The evening provided a space to celebrate the achievements of TWB throughout the summer, and to also connect our work in East Africa to our supporters in the United States. Emily, an old friend of Markey Culver's from Furman College, willingly hosted the benefit concert because of her belief in women, education, and opportunity. 

Lorien Dancer, a JeffCo Open Secondary School student, has been interning with TWB as an advocate for our work at her school (since June 2016) and helped coordinate the fundraiser with Emily.

While reflecting on the evening, Lorien noted that, "...one of the major themes for this night was stories. Stories about The Women’s Bakery, stories about women, and stories that were created in the magical mind of the very talented musician, Emily Scott Robinson."

Lorien said, "there was a feel in the room of acceptance, warmth, joy and a comfort... Emily's voice was magical, her playing inspirational and her lyrics were like poetry. I can’t stop listening to her songs and I have no doubt that she and her music will go far!"

Indeed, it was a special night for everyone involved, and TWB would like to thank Emily, attendees, the Boulder community, and all the work of TWB interns & volunteers to make this work happen. The event involved other local artists (like Renee Saunders) and an opening show from Lindsay Kilpatrick, and so truly, it was a community effort. What better way to celebrate bread power?

Thank you all for being a part of our story - and for sharing it with others too. Let's continue to rise together!

Success Comes In Different Slices

When Markey and Julie traveled to Bukoba, Tanzania in February of 2015, their goal was to train 20 women to work in a bakery just outside of the town center. What we learned, nearly a year following the initial training, is that many of the trainees have taken the skills learned to their homes. Moreover, they are training other women, and selling breads independently, too! While the co-op bakery near town still operates with 3 employees, many of the women have been able to start their own small-scale bakery enterprises.

In June 2016 seven of the 20 women trained in 2015 reported that they were baking one day per week for approximately eight hours per day. Daily sales were between 5-8,000 TSH (approximately 2-4 USD). Most of the women are making banana loaves and selling them by the slice. Two of the seven women report also making carrot bread! This is a new recipe that TWB staff taught during a site visit in February 2016. All of the women are using a jiko - a traditional stove using charcoal or wood fuel. These small bakeries have helped to supplement the women’s agricultural and other business income.

A question we often receive is “Can a woman run her own baking business using the skills she learned in training, without start-up capital, and without a fancy oven?”

The answer is a resounding Yes she can!