Brigitha Faustin empowers Tanzanian women farmers by producing affordable, locally sourced sunflower oil sustainably.
When Brigitha Faustin founded OBRI Tanzania in 2015, she had no external funding or prior experience in the agri-food industry. All she was trying to do was to solve a problem she had seen too many times. Women farmers did the bulk of agricultural work, yet earned the least and struggled to find stable markets for their produce.
At the same time, Tanzanian families were reusing cooking oil because healthier alternatives were too expensive. Her solution was to build a company that could tackle both problems at once.
OBRI Tanzania is an agro-food enterprise that produces affordable, locally made sunflower cooking oil. But its impact goes far beyond the product on store shelves. The company sources raw sunflower seeds directly from smallholder women farmers, cutting out exploitative middlemen and giving them access to fair pricing, quality inputs, and guaranteed market access. In a recent chat with The Benchmark, Brigitha Faustin noted that OBRI currently works with “approximately 12,000 women smallholder sunflower farmers” across rural communities in Tanzania.
Through OBRI’s innovative model, sunflower farmers have seen a significant increase in their income, now earning approximately 1,400 Tanzanian shillings ($0.54) per kilogram of sunflower seeds, a substantial rise from the previous 200 shillings ($0.078). This fivefold increase in earnings is complemented by a tripling of their productivity, from around 150 kilograms to 450 kilograms per acre.
This remarkable growth is attributed to OBRI’s provision of essential resources such as certified seeds, planters, organic fertilisers, and training in sustainable farming practices. These valuable resources are delivered through strategic collaborations with local governments and organisations, including the Aga Khan Foundation.
What makes the company different is that it functions like a cooperative social enterprise. Farmers have a stake in the business and share in the value they help create. All processing is done locally in Tanzania, reducing post-harvest losses and keeping more value within the country. Faustin designed it this way from the beginning, intending to build a system that prioritises women, sustainability, and local ownership.
The cooking oil itself is sold under the OBRI brand and is targeted at Tanzania’s low- and middle-income households, which make up about 90% of the population. It costs about half as much as other brands, making it a healthier and more accessible option for millions. Since launching, OBRI’s oil has reached approximately 5.7 million consumers. Beyond improving food security and affordability, the company is also reducing the country’s dependency on imported cooking oil, which could save millions in foreign exchange costs.
In 2020, OBRI reported $701,000 in sales revenue. Same year, Brigitha Faustin emerged as a finalist for the GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize. She also received a full scholarship to pursue a Master’s in Business Creation at the University of Utah, equipping her with new skills to scale her impact.
Her long-term vision is to expand the compreach to over 39 million consumers and increase her farmer network to between 6,000 and 7,000 women.
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