Zarifa Rezaee started her company selling homemade tomato paste, chutney, and pickles made with fresh ingredients from women farmers in her village. The company was doing well, so she employed seven additional women – all struggling with poverty and most either widows or students. Despite her early success, she faced cultural norms that created obstacles for businesswomen, especially women in rural areas. “From the outset I kept meeting with resistance toward women professionals,” Zarifa says, “but I fought every single battle along the way and never gave up.”

In May 2019, Zarifa received a co-investment grant from USAID to upgrade her tomato processing capacity and product quality. She also took part in a three-day USAID workshop on tomato processing that included food safety and good hygiene along with 25 other small processors interested in producing ketchup. Zarifa learned how to select tomatoes that are good for cooking and how to avoid using tomatoes which might ruin the taste, color, and texture of the finished product.

Zarifa and the other processors had a problem with ketchup because it is not a traditional Afghan food and they didn’t really know how to prepare it. The USAID training in tomato processing included jointly making a large pot of ketchup. The trainer demonstrated how to create ketchup with the right ingredients and additives, along with the method for putting this all together, while also encouraging the trainees to conduct a trial-and-error process to build their own unique recipes.

“We used to make tomato paste just like everyone else: we’d take every tomato – including damaged, green, and over-ripe tomatoes that no one wanted – we’d dry the slices in the sun for a week, then cook them in water from the stream. We never thought of using gloves, or chlorinated water to wash and cook the tomatoes. After this training, I am sure that our tomato paste and ketchup will be of the best quality in the market,” Zarifa says.

USAID will help Zarifa obtain a tomato pulping machine and other tools and will also link her to large buyers. Her partnership with the project will not only bring her financial benefits and a competitive edge, but also a peer environment and established network of women farmers and women-owned agribusinesses. With USAID support, she is building her own unique recipe of life achievements.

“I started my business with $6, now we have over $20,000 in our company budget,“ Zarifa says.