As a long-time entrepreneur, forty-year-old Tanzanian Hawa Ibrahim Chora is recognized as a successful businesswoman in her community and the surrounding areas.
To market her products, Hawa meets people in entrepreneurial groups. She sites her Solar Sister training for helping with selling techniques and is proud to sell quality products.
For many years, Hawa has been interested in the climate change effects on her community in north-central Tanzania and what she could do to be a part of the solution. After attending seminars on the subject, she was inspired to be a part of protecting the environment. After becoming a Solar Sister Entrepreneur, Hawa saved enough capital from her solar business to start her tree farm. She knew that if you wanted to plant any trees, you had to travel to another district that was a bit far and the travel expensive, so Hawa thought she would have a good customer base with a tree farm in her community.
Hawa knew that people needed to cut trees down to get firewood and charcoal for cooking.
“This has led to the water sources drying up and has brought about drought all over,” Hawa describes.
Using the clean cookstoves that Hawa sells reduces the number of trees people need to cut down, and trees from her farm replenish areas where trees have been cleared for firewood.
Hawa wants to live in a community with lots of trees, breathe fresh air, and reduce drought.
“I started my business in 2016, and I am grateful my business has grown. Now people are aware of the importance of growing trees to protect our environment, and they buy a good number of tree seedlings. I now have more than 4000 seedlings.”
Hawa’s network and customer base continue to grow for her tree farm and solar business.
“The tree nursery has also been helpful to me because it has increased my income and made me famous in my community.”
Hawa says that the products she stocks through Solar Sister fit her customer base well. Affordable lights and clean cookstoves are the base of her sales. As farmers living in a rural area, her customers usually start with one of the smaller lamps.
Hawa feels better herself since she stopped using kerosene lamps with the smoke it puts out, and this is a natural selling point since her customers see how much her health has improved.
Each time she sells a solar lamp or a clean cookstove, Hawa feels a sense of accomplishment.
Hawa says that her life has improved through her income from both businesses.
Tomorrow, April 22, is Earth Day! The 2022 Earth Day theme is “Invest In Our Planet,” a theme centered on accelerating solutions to combat climate change. Solar Sister trains women in last-mile communities to create businesses that bring clean energy solutions that help protect our planet and mitigate climate change. Women like Hawa. One clean stove, one tree at a time.
“I know that I am providing a good education for our three children and improving the lives of my family,” Hawa says.
