Turning Influence into Impact: Women Entrepreneurs in the Food Sector and Grow to Market’s Mission
A recent industry article, “Women, Power, & Progress: Shaping the Next Generation of Business,” highlights what many in the food and beverage industry are already seeing: women entrepreneurs are playing a growing and influential role in shaping the future of food. From better-for-you products to culturally rooted brands, women are bringing new ideas, innovation, and purpose into the marketplace. Yet despite this momentum, women continue to face barriers in access to capital, leadership opportunities, and pathways to scale.
For many women in the food industry, entrepreneurship begins with real experience. Their innovation can be driven by building their businesses around feeding families, preserving food traditions, preserving local varieties, improving nutrition, or addressing gaps in their communities, demonstrating women’s deep understanding of what consumers need and value. But even with strong products and clear market demand, turning a small business into a sustainable enterprise requires more than passion and innovation. It requires access to buyers, distribution channels, fair pricing, and affordable financial instruments.
The challenges highlighted in this article mirror what so many women food entrepreneurs experience every day. They are innovating, adapting, and building resilience in the face of limited resources and structural inequality. Many succeed by forming strong relationships with customers, staying close to their markets, and continuously refining how they acquiesce and compete.
A recent study by the African Development Bank shows that nearly one in four African women is an entrepreneur, yet 87 percent of women’s entrepreneurial associations lack financial management capacity and only 29 percent have partnerships with financial institutions. This highlights ongoing barriers to financing and business support in regions where Grow to Market works. (African Development Bank)
In Latin America and the Caribbean, nearly 73 percent of women-led businesses are unable to access the economic resources necessary for development and are often concentrated in lower-value sectors such as food production and services. While women’s entrepreneurial participation is relatively high, the majority lack access to the financial tools and support that allow businesses to scale and thrive. (UNDP)
Grow to Market plays a critical role in closing the gap between opportunity and access for women in the food sector. The nonprofit helps entrepreneurs improve their business literacy, reach the right markets, strengthen their businesses, and build sustainable income, ensuring that talent and hard work can translate into real economic empowerment.
Grow to Market works closely with Food Enterprise Solutions (FES) to strengthen food businesses at every level. FES’s Business Drivers for Food Safety (BD4FS) program helps growing food enterprises, many led by women, improve food safety, product quality, and operational readiness, making it easier for them to compete in larger markets. Entrepreneurs like Senegal-based processor Nafissatou Diop have used this support to professionalize their operations and expand while maintaining high safety and quality standards.
Nafissatou is the owner of Sen Fruit Processing Technology, based in Petit Mbao, Senegal, a company specialized in ditakh processing. According to Nafissatou Diop, her work with BD4FS has helped strengthen food safety systems and improve production practices, allowing her business to grow while meeting higher quality standards. Through this support, she has scaled her fruit processing operation, introduced innovative technology to improve efficiency, and trained other local producers on food safety best practices.
Nafissatou Diop
Through this combined support, women can access not only technical guidance but also capital, markets, and business skills. Women like Maria Rosa Elena Romero have been able to grow their businesses. She went from paying a third-party roaster to buying her own roasting equipment (with loan), added a bakery, now employs 15 women, produces and markets her specialty coffee in large retail grocers, and provides training and mentoring to other coffee women in her community.
Maria Rosa Elena Romero
Women are already shaping the future of food. Grow to Market exists to make sure they have the opportunity to thrive in it. For more information about our work, visit us at www.growtomarket.org or contact us at info@growtomarket.org
Sources:
Women, Power, & Progress: Shaping the Next Generation of Business
UNDP - The Power of Entrepreneurship: Women Transforming the Region with Courage and Vision
