FACT SHEET

MARCH ‘09

BOOST/SIFE ZIMBABWE: BUILDING OPPORTUNIT IES ON STUDENT TALENT

University students in Zimbabwe students shocked the business and academic world when they scooped the coveted SIFE
World Cup in business and entrepreneurship in 2005. October 7 2005 will certainly go down in the history of Africa as a date
when under-funded, ill equipped, African universities riddled with irrelevant courses, whipped their counterparts from the
developed World. Zimbabwe beat other 41 countries to emerge international champions and send a strong message that the
modern day African youth are no longer waiting for tomorrow; they are taking leadership today! This is their story....

Self empowerment is the first step to
being the agent of change. Young peo-
ple should not be controlled by the envi-
ronment, they should create their own
environment so as to influence it.’
It is imperative that in pursuing these
initiatives, students seek to create syner-
gistic relationships with the corporate
sector to create sustainable partnerships
that foster growth at the bottom of the
pyramid.
This fact sheet looks at initiatives stu-
dents from the BOOST/SIFE Zimbabwe
program are carrying out to stimulate
the BOP while at the same time harness-
ing corporate involvement.
Situational Information/Background
grams, budgeting, create marketing
plans, prepare annual reports, and make
presentations.
Having learned these skills, they gradu-
ate from college understanding the im-
portance of building relationships,
knowing how to network, and having the
ability to read a P&L statement.
SIFE links the business community to
the academia; facilitates community
projects geared towards nurturing busi-
ness minded students while promoting
entrepreneurship world wide. Once in a
year, country directors organize a na-
tional competition among the universi-
ties to determine the institution with the
highest community outreach impact.
serve Africa's needs for life sustain-
ability, cultivating possibility ori-
ented living by fostering the princi-
ples of entrepreneur intelligence
and servant leadership. To date the
BOOST/SIFE program has a pres-
ence in all the universities in the
country as well as a few vocational
colleges.
Among the fellowship’s values
include community service and
creativity through which BOOST/
SIFE students generate novel and
useful ideas and solutions from
Inside this issue:

SIFE students put classroom knowledge The SIFE program in Zimbabwe started Background 1
to work in the real world. Working with at the University of Zimbabwe in 2004 Projects and Their Impact 2
faculty advisors, SIFE team members and is now coordinated by the BOOST
design and implement projects that teach (Building Opportunities on Student tal- Recognition 4
them to conduct feasibility studies, write ent) Fellowship. The Fellowship envi-
business plans, develop training pro- sions a world of purposeful people, who Conclusions 4
everyday problems and challenges. It
involves the translation of unique gifts,
talents and vision into an external real-
ity that is new and useful.
Projects and Their Impact
Zimbabwe projects focused mainly on
farmers and HIV-AIDS pandemic. The
University of Zimbabwe facilitated
farmers to increase their productivity
through low cost farm inputs, and
branding of products. They also taught
HIV-AIDS victims how to be eco-
nomically productive while at the
same time promoting effective preven-
tive measures for those not infected.
In 2008, the BOOST/SIFE University
of Zimbabwe team embarked on the
“Think Green Project”, in partner-
ship with Anchor Holdings (yeast pro-
ducing company) in designing a 2 year
working program aimed at pushing for
an environmentally friendly agenda for
agricultural production in Africa
through Organic farming practices.
The group also roped in the Institute of
Mining Research at the University of
Zimbabwe, agro geology specialists
and researchers at the University of
Guelph in Canada, and the Department
of Agriculture and Research Extension
in Rusape.
A pre-project feasibility evaluation
determined that farmers in the Rusape
community, faced stiff competition
due to product homogeneity hence
under priced their produce and also
faced procurement challenges.
ThinkGreenProject
Anchor Holdings supplied 2600 kg
of organic vegetables per month per
scheme
IMR supplies farmers with 500kgs
of phosphate pellet required for ppb
atUSD$0.50/kg, reducing input
costs by 40%.
Through a phased approach, the stu-
dents carried out a 12 week training
program to address the technical and
business aspects of organic farming
with Agritex officials, and partnered
the community with Anchor Holdings
for the production of Phosphate Pellet-
ized Blend (ppb) fertilizer.
In addition, sustainability was ensured
through a long term commitment by
Agritex and export sales guarantee by
Anchor Holdings, create a stable mar-
ket for the community.
“PPB fostered employment creation
as farmers increased their crop yields
thereby generating forward and back-
ward linkages that improved rural
communities by addressing macro
economic challenges brought about by
unemployment” SIFE UZ President
2008
Africa University (AU) has been
working on a project called Nzeve
(shona for ear) which focuses on an
institution that caters for individuals
with speech and hearing impairments,
since 2002.
The AU-BOOST/SIFE team carried
out entrepreneurship training for the
group, numbering 572, engaged in
sewing and carpentry projects.
The team created a website
(www.africau.edu/sife/) to showcase
products made by the Nzeve group
then leveraged its networks to create a
market for products with auditing firm
Ernst and Young.
The Chiedza Projects sought to reha-
bilitate street youths through two dif-
ferent initiatives.
The first one is a group of 40 rehabili-
tated street children, under Simukai
Street youth programme ranging from
7 to 19 years of age. AU taught the
SIFE principles to the participants and
the practical activities undertaken with
the group included, scrunchy making,
bead making, card making and gar-
dening.
These were the activities that matched
the skills and interests of the children
and so were used to facilitate easier
understanding of free market econo-
mies and ethics.
The next stage of the project involved
engaging a professional gift and pre-
sent designer to take the participants
through the processes of making qual-
ity products that will satisfy the needs
of their consumers.
With the help of the designer, the chil-
dren were able to identify consumer
needs for their products and model their
offerings to satisfy this need. The next
phase of the project will be assisting the
participants to create a brand for their
products.
Africa University also targeted the rural
women in Nyamajura communal lands,
in the Eastern Highlands for its Ticha-
kunda Project.
This community is agro centric and as is
typical of rural Zimbabwe, women are
the most marginalized group. Through
the facilitation of the students, the
women came up with an innovative way
of making soap and tye & dying as a
means of supplementing their income.
The name ‘Tichakunda’ means we will
overcome the poverty that persist using
the naturally available resources.
They now make the soap from the jatro-
pha plant, which prior to these projects
was used as fencing around households
and small gardens. The tie and dye ma-
terial comes from the locally available
plants and animals.
Womens University in Africa‟s
Shungu is a soya beans project located at
Women’s University in Africa’s farm in
Marondera, east of Harare, run by
twenty seven (27) wives of the farm
workers.
The students empowered the women
with entrepreneurial skills and created
partnerships with SEEDCO, a Zim-
babwe Stock Exchange listed company
for the provision of seeds and insecti-
cides.
“We may not have won the national
competitions but the smile we left on
those communities we helped see a bet-
ter day lingers in my mind and makes
me feel corded such an opportunity to be
in the BOOST /SIFE programme.”
Marko Midzi, Alumni
Ekhaya is an outreach project by the
Chinhoyi University BOOST/SIFE
team that gave poor and underprivi-
leged communities training in entre-
preneurship. The program was initi-
ated through collaboration with TRCC
and PACT Zimbabwe and is focused
on the Hwedza and Chirumanzu dis-
tricts.
Since 2004, the BOOST/SIFE UZ
team has been involved with the
Agrilink Project targeted at the Dom-
boshava community, a few kilometers
outside the capital city of Harare com-
munity. The project objective is to
assist horticulture producing peasant
farmers in Domboshava shift from
subsistence to commercially oriented
farming and profitably exploit formal
markets.
The project was initiated after realiz-
ing the difficult conditions the farmers
went through to sell their produce
(tomatoes and soya beans) to middle-
men at the Mbare Bus Terminus open
market.
The intermediaries (middlemen) in
turn have contracts to sell to the major
retailers i.e. Interfresh, Spar, OK, Bon
Marche and TM supermarkets, raking
up to 300% mark ups.
Prices decline significantly, by up to
75% as midmorning approaches, as
most intermediaries would have com-
pleted their bidding by 6 am, and for
those farmers still with produce, there
is need to clear off whatever remains
before they return to their villages. As
a result, farmers have to be at the mar-
ket as early as 3 am and most sleep at
the open market in order to fetch the
higher prices prevailing.
Having identified the challenge facing
the farmers, the UZ team embarked on
entrepreneurial training with a focus
on contract negotiations. The farmers
formed a cooperative in the name of
Ivhu Upenyu (soil is life) Association
to thereafter, the UZ team linked up
the farmers with partners of the
BOOST/SIFE UZ team such as Gustai
Convenience Stores, Spar, Interfresh
and the Zimsun Leisure Groups.
It facilitated the negotiation of con-
tracts with these partners enabling the
direct distribution of farm produce to
the retailers and hoteliers, effectively
cutting out the middleman.
For the retailers and hotelier, the key
benefit was a reduced price from the
one offered by the middleman as well
as a constant supply of fresh produce
from the farmers.
For the farmers, they were able to
fetch a higher price than that prevail-
ing on the open market at Mbare; were
assured of a guaranteed market pro-
vided they maintained a certain mini-
mum quality threshold and didn’t need
to sleep at the terminus waiting for the
market to open anymore.
Furthermore, the University of Zim-
babwe team worked with the coopera-
tive to improve their organizational
structure and improve leadership
skills.
Entrepreneurship training,
financial management, mar-
keting and sales were all
covered in workshops. In
addition, soy milk by-
products from residue were
developed to increase cash
flow.
Soy milk production has
increased 300% and the co-
operative’s profits have been
boosted from $4,000 to
$18,000 a month. The entire village
has benefited from this, with the vil-
lage bank being revamped and AIDS
patients/orphans receiving supplemen-
tary feeding.
“At a personal level it was enriching
and fulfilling to see the willingness of
poor communities to improve their
livelihoods and their desire to learn and
know even if it’s from a younger genera-
tion. It was also insightful how compa-
nies were willing to work with poor
communities through contract farming,
for example, in the process building the
community’s capacity to spend on the
firm’s produce.” Josephine Gumbo,
BOOST/SIFE UZ Alumni 2004
Midlands State University‟s MASO
project focused on people living with
HIV/AIDS and in partnership with the
Midlands Aids Services Organization to
facilitate entrepreneurship training and
establishment of small scale business
enterprises.
As a result, the community is now run-
ning a small businesses selling juice
extracted from sweet potatoes and cas-
sava, candle making and dress making.
A further spinoff was that fourteen (14)
students on the BOOST/SIFE program
were training to be Secondary care giv-
ers to people living with HIV/AIDS.
University of Zimbabwe’s team „Heal
The Nation‟ project’s main objective
was to improve the livelihood of unem-
ployed people infected and affected by
HIV/AIDS through entrepreneurship.
The team partnered with Zimbabwe
Women’s Bureau and the Catholic Re-
lief Services (which provided funding).
A group of 180 participants from three
(3) different low income residential ar-
eas were selected.
Thereafter, two idea generation sessions
were conducted where participants de-
cided in favor of Oyster Mushroom pro-
duction. Three BOOST/SIFE University
of Zimbabwe students together with
Zimbabwe Women’s Bureau staff subse-
quently trained participants how to grow
this mushroom variety.
Participants were also taught basic book-
keeping, marketing skills, negotiation
skills and business ethics over a period
of 6 weeks.

Recognition
The University of Zimbabwe students
shocked the business and academic
world when it scooped the coveted
SIFE World Cup in business and en-
trepreneurship in Canada in October
2005.
Zimbabwe beat other 41 countries to
emerge international champions and
send a strong message that the modern
day African youth are no longer wait-
ing for tomorrow; they are taking lead-
ership today!
Conclusion
What lesson does Zimbabwe offer to
the students of Africa? Each individual
African must focus on potential oppor-
tunities. The University students in
Zimbabwe are illustrating the power of
not investing in negativism, by seeing
the possibilities rather than the prob-
lems of life – and exploiting the op-
portunities that then arise for the bet-
terment of the society at large.
Jack Shewmaker, (Past SIFE Interna-
tional Chairman and Former President
of Wal-mart Stores) remarked in 2004
that “…entrepreneurs have no time for
negativism, there is no such thing as a
problem; everything is just an oppor-
tunity.”
Your Contacts at the BOP Learn-
ing Lab:
University of Stellenbosch Business School
Prof. W. Thomas
t:+27 21 82 770 9694
E:wthomas@usb.ac.za
Maclintosh Kuhlengisa (Research Assistant)
t:+27 73 089 0780
E: maclintosh@gmail.com
Norma Sayman (Secretary)
E:ns5@usb.ac.za
www.usb.sun.ac.za
To the African universities, the objec-
tive ought not to be to churn out as
many people with degrees, but to re-
lease to the world, graduates who are
capable of enriching themselves and
developing the communities around
them
To the business community in Africa, Lena Zamchiya
join the academia and the communi- Chief Executive Officer
ties to make a difference in Africa. The BOOST Fellowship
1 Walterhill Avenue
One person, one village, one commu-
Eastlea
nity at a time, and Africa will cease Harare, Zimbabwe
being a continent sized beggar. Tel: +263 4-794759
Fax: +263 4-794987/760
lena@theboostfellowship.org
Letitia de Wet
Country Director, SIFE South Africa
PostNet Suite 305 - Private Bag X30500
HOUGHTON, 2041, South Africa
Tel: +27 (0)82 883 1758
Fax: +27 (0)16-341-4457
southafrica@sife.org