A Gift To Africa (AGTA) is a social enterprise that practices fair-trade principles and encourage all the women we work with to be “for-profit” so that they remain competitive and sustainable on the market. AGTA that was established in 2005 in Salt Lake City, Utah and then registered in Florida in January of 2018 to assist women in third world countries and particularly in Africa to initially market high-end, handmade, fairly-traded art and crafts made by women and later to wild harvest ethnic ingredients that include seeds that produce organic, natural and healthy foods and skincare. AGTA is also registered in Malawi, Africa.

For the handcrafted items AGTA designs and purchases directly from the women in Africa who produce high-end art and crafts and then sells them to the USA market; primarily to retail establishments (gift shops, fair-trade shops, jewelry stores, museum gift stores, etc) and also to the consumer directly. Products come from Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe and soon, Mozambique; consisting of about 200 women.

For the Food ingredients, AGTA assists with the production of the food ingredients that it then further manufactures and markets in the USA market. The company has initially chosen wild harvested ingredients (from Malawi, Kenya and soon Mozambique) that require less resources upfront and that are readily available to the women in the rural areas of these countries. The ingredients that we have chosen as easy entry level include the baobab fruit powder, coffee and oil, marula oil, mafura oil and various other oils and herbs. The product line also includes moringa leaf, moringa powder and oil.

The Baobab tree grows in the most climate vulnerable parts of Southern and Eastern Africa because it is drought resistant and the Moringa is found everywhere in Africa. These products have been chosen because they are high in nutrition and the demand for such nutrients in western markets are skyrocketing.

AGTA collaborates with women in these countries to harvest and do the basic processing. The company then imports the basic ingredients and then make products in its Florida operation. All transactions are done following fair-trade principles. All products manufactured in the USA do not include chemicals or GMOs.

Immediate future plans for the company include obtaining a USDA organic certification, expanding into Malawi and Mozambique and producing finished products for the African market.

OUR STORY

A Gift To Africa was founded in 2005 by a Zimbabwean native, Sabina Zunguze, as a USA-based social enterprise in Salt Lake City, Utah with a sole purpose of empowering African business women to grow their businesses sustainably and enter into global markets using fair trade principles. Since its inception, the company has worked with over 300 women in 8 different African countries which include Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Madagascar, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi. The company has successfully trained, consulted and grown numerous companies and placed products in high-end physical and online stores, catalogs and other establishments. The company has also participated at numerous trade shows, regional markets, conferences, and private venues.

Recently the company relocated to Florida and has shifted its focus to wild-harvested fruits and oils. The reason for the shift has been because the resources used (wild-harvested fruits and seeds) are available in the local African communities at no cost (or very minimal cost) and thus provide a good level of sustainability. The women are then able to make an immediate income with little skills training at minimal cost.

A Gift to Africa imports the wild-harvested products which become ingredients for products produced in the USA. A Gift to Africa also encourages conservation and more value addition to the trees and plants before they are exported.

Immediate future plans involve exporting manufactured goods in the USA to the Caribbean, Asia, Central and South America. The company is also looking into   diversifying its manufactured product range in the USA. 

The company will also be conducting more entrepreneurial training of the women in Africa through collaborations with other organizations.

Our sister African women empowerment projects include Her African Market and the She Fairs project.