Category: Videos

Mikono Yetu Youth Enterprise Kitchen in Mwanza, Tanzania has been using Fiti probiotics to improve the health of the community and economically empower their employees. Their kitchen is one of many in Tanzania established with the help of Mikono Yetu and Western University to create more economic opportunities for the local community.

Meet Sandra, Stephano, Devota and Jessica – four of the youths who help run this kitchen.

Take a look at the Action for Democracy Local Governors (ADLG) yogurt kitchen! Opening their doors just over a year ago, the ADLG kitchen staff have already trained several women who have been able to open their own yogurt kitchens.

Meet Esther Masawe. She is an active member in her community and helps to sell yogurt and train staff at ADLG. She is passionate about giving back to the community and sees their kitchen as an opportunity to improve local health and empower women.

Meet Freddy, or as everyone in his neighbourhood calls him: Mr. Kaneza. He is a proud grandfather, husband and owner of Kaneza Milk Group. As a retiree, Freddy was looking for a new hobby to fill his time. Around a year ago he discovered Fiti and decided to open his own probiotic yogurt kitchen. With massive success, his business has quickly grown and he is now preparing to sell in grocery stores and open his own storefront location. Not only has his yogurt had an impact on the health of his community, but with a TFDA certified kitchen, he has also been able to financially empower local women by training them to start their own business.

Mama Betty is the founder of Ebeneza Women’s Group and Bethel’s Food Production. As a successful entrepreneur, she strives to help empower other women. She trains women and youth for free, sharing her knowledge and experience in order to uplift the community at large.

Meet Joyce Stephano. She has been producing Fiti yogurt for over a decade. After helping establish the first Fiti kitchen in Mwanza with Mikono Yetu, she opened her own, calling it Vijana Simama Imara (youth, they should stand on their own). Over the years, the profits from her kitchen have enabled her to become financially independent. Mama Joyce has dedicated her life to empowering others and uses her kitchen as an opportunity to support youth and other women.

Foundation Karibu Tanzania (FKT) is a non-governmental organisation in Mwanza, Tanzania that aims to eradicate Child Domestic Violence and advocate for children’s rights in Tanzania. They do this by housing and rehabilitating domestically abused children. At FKT, providing nutritious food is central to improving the overall health of the children. In order to do this, the organisation has been producing Fiti yogurt in recent years and noticed immense success in the increased weight gain and mental focus of their children.

In 2017, Hida started producing Fiti yogurt out of her home while working full-time at a bank. Producing a couple litres a day, she started to sell to her colleagues. With great success, Hida soon transitioned to the yogurt business full-time, creating her own small factory. Today, she is working to grow her business further and open a large factory in the near future. Hida is one of many business-minded women joining the probiotic yogurt movement in Mwanza. This is her story.

In 2004 Tukwamuane Women’s Group, who named the probiotic yogurt ‘Fiti’, started the first community kitchen in Mwanza, Tanzania. Today, their kitchen maintains a success, operating at the centre of their community. As pioneers of the Fiti probiotic yogurt movement, Tukwamuane has improved local health and inspired dozens of other women to open their own kitchens.