'At first I was doing this just
for my mom, but then I realised this could help other people like her in
Cameroon, as well as Africa.'
Cameroonian Vanessa Zommi (20) is
a problem solver, and when she realised that diabetes posed a risk to her
mother's life, she decided to do something about it. She had already lost both her
grandparents as a result of diabetes, so when her mother was diagnosed with the
disease, Zommi started to look into natural treatments that could keep her
mother healthy.
She came across the moringa
oleifera tree, which grew in her region, and discovered it has a number of
nutritional and medicinal benefits. One of these is reducing blood sugar levels
to treat diabetes and, after a bit more research, Zommi found she could easily
process the moringa leaf into a tasty tea.
"Studies show that drinking
moringa tea after a meal can ease digestion, and after two hours of intake,
sugar levels in the body drop."
She visited an agricultural fair
and met with moringa farmers who could supply her with the leaf, which she
dried and placed in tea bags. And after testing the product out, she realised
that other people in her community would also benefit from the treatment.
According to Zommi, poverty is
one of the leading causes of diabetes as a lot of cheap food and snacks in the
market are high in sugar and low in nutrients. The cost of medicine and
healthcare also meant diabetics often did not receive early detection, and many
patients were unable to afford on-going treatment.
"So at first I was doing
this just for my mom, but then I realised this could help other people like her
in Cameroon, as well as Africa."
At the age of 17, Zommi started
manufacturing her tea and established the company Emerald Moringa Tea to supply
consumers in Molyko, a town in the Buea region. Today the company employs nine
people and is looking at expanding its distribution to other regions in
Cameroon, as well as Africa. At the moment 40g of her tea costs about US$2, but
Zommi hopes to lower prices as she scales-up production.
She also works with small-scale
farmers to help them grow moringa. "I teach them how to plant the moringa
and I give them seeds so they can go and plant it and make money."
Emerald Moringa Tea has caught
the attention of the Anzisha Prize, Africa's premier award for young
entrepreneurs, and Zommi was named one of its 12 finalists for 2015. She has recently completed her
degree in chemical engineering, and is currently pursuing her masters at
Villanova University in the US. Her business is being run by a dedicated team
in Cameroon while she is away.
Zommi was exposed to
entrepreneurship at a young age while helping her mother sell computers after
school. "I started learning how to make money, how to market a product,
and how to talk to customers. I learnt the basics," she recalled.
However, she admits running her
own venture while studying was not easy. In addition to her school commitments,
Zommi was also the vice-president of her university's student government
association.
"I had to take care of 2,000
people in school and at the same run my enterprise, while also making sure that
I had good grades. It was really difficult in the beginning, but I turned out
to be a good time manager. I was successful as vice-president of student
government, and my business is one of the top entrepreneurship ventures in my
university, and I am also among the top students," she stated proudly.
"It helps to be a good time
manager and I have managed a work/life balance."
Zommi is also a strong advocate
of African women in entrepreneurship, as she believes it is a good way to
empower women both financially and socially. "I hope through my story that
I can be a role model for young girls who want to do something like this."