Three young women are nurturing their community’s sweet tooth by plying them with cakes of all sorts at a fair price. GRACIOUS TABWA (24), CHIPO DINGANI (27), and DADIRAI MAPFIKO (21), all from Ward 8, took a four-week course in catering at Murerekwa Primary School in Zaka district. The course, offered by Gutu Vocational Training Centre, was delivered as a part of Takunda’s skills outreach program.

Following the training, the three young women joined forces and ventured into business in their village (Cluster 1, Jerera), baking cakes and scones and making samosas. Not one to waste time waiting on their certification, the trio saw an opportunity to make money from their acquired skills.  At first, “We didn’t think we would succeed as we did not have the tools, and we thought these skills were for those who always passed their school exams.” To date, their business has procured a kitchen scale, two measuring cup sets, four cake tins of different sizes, and a nozzle set to offer products of a higher quality as they are using a homemade wood-fueled brick oven which tends to be unreliable where heat control is concerned and time-consuming as they always have to find firewood for it.

JUNE 27, 2023: CHIPO DINGANI (left) and GRACIOUS TABWA (right) icing the cakes they baked in ward 8 Jerera village Zaka while customers wait for their orders. © Martin Chauke/ TAKUNDA RFSA

As with any business, branding was crucial for Dadirai, Chipo, and Gracious, and the trio settled on a flyer to draw attention to their business and lure new customers.

The ladies are so determined to make money that they have invested in designing an online flyer advertising their business. In April 2023, over four and half hours, they produced seven cakes priced between US$5 to US$10 each and raised about US$55 from the sales.

Cake slices are also sold for a dollar each. The business has a steady flow of customers from their locality. They are also part of ‘Mudzimai WaNhasi and ‘Hama Mawoko’ village savings and lending associations and plan to procure gas stoves and cylinders from the savings to improve production, as the current oven is not sustainable. They also plan to procure an electric whisker and a gas fridge eventually. “This course boosted our confidence as young women. We now take orders for whole cakes and sell cake slices door-to-door at $1. We hope we can do more practical baking lessons as this will help us secure more clients,” shared Chipo.