Cleopatra Kuniberty Limandora started making banana wine in her mom's kitchen with 300,000 shillings after getting an IT diploma from SAUTI University, but couldn't land a job. She joined the YEFFA program under AGRA, and that changed everything because it taught her that agriculture could actually be a real business with value chains and markets.
Her company PATRA Agroprocessing pumps out banana crisps, potato crisps, spices, and sunflower oil that hits stores in Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Dodoma, Iringa, and Songwe. She employs 17 young people and works directly with smallholder farmers in Mbeya, buying their stuff and teaching them better farming practices. The program basically gave young women the confidence to stop waiting around for jobs and just build their enterprises instead.
Her company PATRA Agroprocessing pumps out banana crisps, potato crisps, spices, and sunflower oil that hits stores in Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Dodoma, Iringa, and Songwe. She employs 17 young people and works directly with smallholder farmers in Mbeya, buying their stuff and teaching them better farming practices. The program basically gave young women the confidence to stop waiting around for jobs and just build their enterprises instead.
