Sylvia Banda (born 1962) is a Zambian business woman, restaurateur and social entrepreneur.[1][2][3][4] She is an Ashoka fellow.[5] Banda promotes local food use, choosing ingredients for her restaurant from local and small-scale farms.[1][6] She started her own business, Sylva Professional Catering in 1986.[1] By 2009, she had 16 restaurants in Lusaka.[2] In 2014, she invested $105,000 in US dollars to open a food processing plant in Zambia.[7]

Banda has also served as the chair of the Zambia Chapter of the African Women Entrepreneurship Programme (AWEP).[8] Lusaka Voice calls Banda "one of Zambia's most recognisable entrepreneurs."[9] Banda and her husband, Hector, publish Zambian cuisine recipes in a weekly Times of Zambia column called "Zambian Dishes with Sylvia Catering."[10] Banda also trains women on how to preserve local foods.[11] She has a nonprofit organization, Sylva Food Solutions (SFS) to help local farmers increase business.[12]

Banda works with the University of Zambia to offer an agriculture-based training programme that promotes innovative thinking as well as traditional foods and recipes.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Zambian open window gave restaurant lift-off". BBC News. BBC. 28 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
  2. ^ a b "Top tips from Africa's entrepreneurs". BBC News. BBC. 11 March 2009. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
  3. ^ "Growth Management for a Zambian Hospitality Empire: Sylvia Banda and Sylva Professional Catering Services and College Limited" (PDF). Columbia Business School. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  4. ^ "Sylvia Banda (Sylva Group of companies)". Startup Grind. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  5. ^ "SYLVIA BANDA". Ashoka. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  6. ^ Chanda, Davies M.M. (25 December 2014). "'Add value to products'". Times of Zambia. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  7. ^ "Sylva Catering invests $105,000 | Lusaka Voice". Lusaka Voice. 2014-11-26. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  8. ^ "Remove barriers for female entrepreneurs — Kaseba | Lusaka Voice". Lusaka Voice. 2013-04-24. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  9. ^ "Nyamuka Zambia Promoting Transformative Entrepreneurship in Zambia | Lusaka Voice". Lusaka Voice. 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  10. ^ "Preparing Fishbone Soup". Times of Zambia. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  11. ^ Chanda, Davies M.M. (5 March 2017). "Sylva Catering to train 80,000 women". Times of Zambia. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  12. ^ Brown, Ann (2014-01-08). "Innovator Sylvia Banda Is Changing The Way Zambians Eat And Farm". AFKInsider. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  13. ^ "Sylvia Banda | Ashoka | Everyone a Changemaker".

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