Issue 03 TALANTA Magazine

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TALANTA MAGAZINEROAD2 GREATNESSI N T E R V I E W W I T HB R I G I T H A F A U S T I NBy FOUNDER SPOT MEDIABrigitha Faustin is a mother of two , A wife ,A founder and CEO of OBRI Tanzania – Anagri-food company that works withsmallholder farmers mostly women toprocess and supply cooking oil under theOBRI brand. This brand also partners withdifferent organizations and companies toprovide training on sustainable agricultureand also inputs that the farmers need togrow sunflowers. FounderSpot had achance to interview Brigitha Faustin on herjourney and growth as CEO andentrepreneur and this is what she had tosay .
T A L A N T A M A G A Z I N EWhat is your mission?My goal is to see that eachTanzanian and African has accessto affordable and healthy cookingoil and all of our farmers especiallysmallholder farmers are fairly paidand sustain their lives throughagriculture.How did you get the idea ofstarting OBRI?My journey started way back in2014/2015 and what I can say isthat I started OBRI because I sawan opportunity in the edible oilindustry in Tanzania and chose tograb it. I walked to a supermarketone day and I was looking forcooking oil. Most of the time I walkinto a supermarket or kwamangishop and buy cooking oil but neverbother to even look at the label toread where it’s made. But that dayout of curiosity I chose to look atthe label; and most of the productswere imported, made in Kenya,made in South Africa, made inEgypt. That didn’t sound right at allin my head. And that is the daythat I decided I am going to startan edible oil processing company.With very small investment frommy family I started OBRI. In arented warehouse with few clientsOBRI was operational and that wasin October 2015.How did COVID 19 affects your business?The impact of COVID 19 to us has mainlybeen on distribution and supply ofsunflower seeds and other inputs tofarmers. We have experienced a shortageof raw materials because most partnerswho were supporting farmers withinputs had to cut their spending whileothers had experienced logisticalchallenges as they relied most onimported inputs. This has affectedfarmers' productivity which resulted inan existing shortage of raw materials. Asa result, we had to cut production ofcooking oil while working on the bestmodel that will increase local productionof raw materials in a sustainable mannerHave you ever faced any unforgettablechallenges in your business journey? Ifyes, what did you learn from theseexperiences.Hahaha there are many! Looking back towhen I started the journey six years ago, Ihave encountered lots of challenges. Themost unforgettable ones are the oneswhere I missed some great opportunities,especially on the fundraising sidebecause I failed to believe in myself andlet the imposter syndrome get over. Thisis the challenge to many youngentrepreneurs especially womenentrepreneurs because our culture hasmade women not become as aggressiveas men when it comes to grabbingopportunities outside women-relatedspaces/fields..If you had one piece of advicefor someone, what would itbe?My advice, especially to younggirls, is never be afraid to takeup spaces. Acknowledge thatyou have the power andability to do anything. Gobodily towards the directionof your dreams, own yourvulnerabilities and excelbeyond the standards existingin our societies regarding agirl child.Bri_faustin
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