My mother is an inspiration to many.  She is the director of Chankwakwa ltd. Chankwakwa is a small family business based on homemade quality and family tradition, producing natural foods.  A role model in inclusive business. The term inclusive business refers to profitable core business activity that also tangibly expands opportunities for the people at the base of the economic pyramid (BoP). Her products are  HACCP, ECOCERT and Fairtrade certified, all costly and extremely time-consuming exercises for a small-scale producer.

A recent collaboration has seen her sun dried mango in fair trade ice-cream produced by Hansens Is which is available in COOP and many other stores in Denmark and Sweden.

She runs a bakery. Over 100 families are directly or indirectly employed through her various enterprises. She is involved in AWEP African Women Entrepreneurs Programme. She supports women both physically and spiritually through her work with Women Aglow. She was selected to represent Zambia at the 2012 AWEP programme in the US. She has been covered by both local and international Media.

She is a mother of 4 and  has been married to my father for 42  years.

To me she is Mummy. A mother that has persevered through many years of struggle. A mother that taught us family values and encouraged us never to give up.

Dorothy Eriksson

Mango Cutting in Chankwakwa Factory

Resources>

IVLP participant, Mrs. Dorothy Eriksson, Managing Director of Chankwakwa farms.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201103070770.html

http://exchanges.state.gov/multimedia/ivlp/awep.html

http://www.one.org/blog/2012/06/22/chankwakwa-natural-food-admired-by-african-business-community/