With more than 60% of women in the Women Creating Wealth (WCW) programme engaged in agriculture, this sector serves as a strategic focus for advancing women's economic opportunities. To overcome the critical challenges that women entrepreneurs face in accessing markets and finance, the programme is actively collecting data, documenting lessons learned, and developing targeted interventions to dismantle structural barriers.

Collaborative research with the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED) at the University of Johannesburg has provided valuable insights into market dynamics and challenges within African agricultural value chains. These challenges include the dominance of established agents restricting women's entry into export markets, limited access to market data, reliance on informal markets, and the underrepresentation of women-owned brands in domestic markets.

To address these barriers, WCW is implementing targeted solutions such as export readiness training, centralised data-sharing platforms, capacity-building for transitioning into formal markets, and marketing initiatives to elevate women-owned brands.

One of the entrepreneurs who exemplifies the early success of these market access interventions is Chama Bwalya from Lusaka, Zambia. With guidance from her coach, Chama developed a market access strategy and is preparing for investment. She expanded her customer base, increased revenue through partnerships with chain stores, and diversified her product portfolio from fresh strawberries to dried fruits, jams, and sauces. Collaborating with a banana plantation helped her to source bananas without cultivation, leveraging WCW-I's ecosystem.

"The WCW programme has been helping me develop confidence, refine operations, and expand my market reach." -- Chama Bwalya, WCW Entrepreneur