Social Entrepreneurs Make Great Bosses and Roommates

The Boss: Andrew

Andrew is the founder of Novos Horizontes. He is from Zimbabwe and has a heart for developing Africa through intentional and sustainable economic development rather than unsustainable foreign aid.

Fun fact:

As he was starting Novos Horizontes, he lived in a tent for 6 months with his wife and 2 children in the bush of Africa. (Pretty admirable!)

What is Novos Horizontes?

Novos Horizontes is in the business of chickens! They are partnered with Eggs for Africa and Mozambique Fresh Eggs to produce chicken feed, chicks, eggs, and chicken meat. These companies are an example of social entrepreneurship because:

1.       Creates jobs and opportunities for those without any: They created over 250 jobs in the city of Nampula. About 190 of these jobs are outgrowers. Outgrowers are rural farmers who raise chicks for 6 weeks until they are ready to be killed. Before New Horizons these out growers only worked as farmers and made 500MZN a year now they make anywhere from 5,000MZN-15,000MZN per each 6-week cycle (30MZN = 1USD).

 

2.       Products with purpose:  A problem in Mozambique is a lack of affordable protein in their diet. This lack of protein can cause Kwashiorkor, a severe form of protein malnutrition. (Kwashiorkor is the bloated stomachs you see sometimes see on kids.)  For at risk populations, kwashiorkor may develop when the kids go from a nutrient/protein-rich diet of their mom’s milk to a nutrient-lacking diet that is high in carbohydrates such as cassava, corn, etc.

The Roommate: Abby
Abby just finished her Masters in Economics and is an aspiring development worker! She is married to Charles, the founder of the non-profit Forgotten Song. The purpose of Forgotten Song is to sustainably improve communities in war-torn countries. They do this by partnering with community leaders to start sustainable and replicable businesses. Past projects include: starting a pre-school that offered subsidized child care in Iraq and granting poultry farms to orphanages in Uganda. If you would like to support their cause you can purchase chocolate from their for-profit chocolate company that they started called Hello Cocoa at Onyx, the Homemade Market, and Arsaga’s. They make all of their chocolate by hand from cocoa beans they purchase from their contacts in other countries.