How market activation is strengthening nutrition access and job creation at Totahara in Burundi
For more than a decade, Christella Ndayishimiye’s Totahara in Burundi, backed by SDC, Sall Family Foundation, Global Affairs Canada and the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT through PABRA and partners, has been scaling nutrient-rich bean porridge to reach 40,000 families monthly, create jobs, and improve nutrition access through market activation and stronger farmer linkages.
- Markets
- women
- women in agriculture
- nutrition
How market activation is strengthening nutrition access and job creation at Totahara in Burundi
For more than a decade, Christella Ndayishimiye’s Totahara in Burundi, backed by SDC, Sall Family Foundation, Global Affairs Canada and the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT through PABRA and partners, has been scaling nutrient-rich bean porridge to reach 40,000 families monthly, create jobs, and improve nutrition access through market activation and stronger farmer linkages.
Great ideas often grow out of small experiments; sometimes planned, sometimes accidental. For Christella Ndayishimiye, one such moment set everything in motion. The Burundian office secretary-turned entrepreneur started processing bean porridge flour out of an urgent personal need. When it time to weaning her baby, she could not find the right nutritious flour in the market. Determined to give her child a healthy start, she began mixing her own bean-based composite flour at home. The results were immediate and encouraging. Her baby grew strong and healthy, and what began as a mother’s solution soon sparked a business idea. That simple experiment eventually gave birth to Totahara, now one of the leading bean composite flour processors tailored to women and children, in Burundi