Alex Rose-Innes
WOMEN across Africa are changing the way the planet is run and Metsana Kojane is another trailblazing agri-entrepreneur from the soil of Africa.
With the abundance of natural resources to be found on the African continent, Kojane’s passion and entrepreneurial spirit led to the establishment of Eden Roots Pty Ltd. Not only is this inspiring woman producing natural skincare products, but her apiary also bottles pure honey and provide sustainable incomes for many people (especially women) in her community.
Eden Roots is an eco-friendly business with honey at the heart of its success. The natural beauty products are made with propolis, wax and the youth enhancing royal jelly to create a unique skincare range from her factory in the North West province of South Africa.
Kojane, who officially started her thriving enterprise in 2015 had even before then traded informally and had become a well-known name and established brand in the horticulture, bee keeping and agro-agriculture in the country.
The first to acknowledge the impact of her foremothers had in training her in essential bee keeping skills, she also boasts a degree from the Vega School, an educational institute under the aegis of The Independent Institute of Education and uses her knowledge to empower other young women and girls in her village to procure an income for themselves. As an environmental activist and community leader, Kojane is one of Africa’s best success stories of how women can drive positive change.
She says that by keeping the work of her ancestral mothers alive in the community, she had come to embrace the cultural heritage of her people and their knowledge of using indigenous herbs for health.
Eden Root’s primary function is the provision of honey from various apiaries across the North West province. From there, the business had branched out into cultivating indigenous herbs from which seeds are packaged into teas and cooking spices. The third tier of this business it the manufacturing of natural skincare, hair care and cleaning products.
Kojane understands her important role as custodian of this planet and the immense importance of bees as part of the eco system without which life on earth would grind to a halt. At the provincial university, Eden Roots conducts research on indigenous herbs and teach students about the importance and financial benefits of bee keeping.
Kojane strives to empower female-owned businesses and outsource professional services, working with women from poor, rural communities who eventually become suppliers to her business.
She teaches others what science had taught her, that without bees there would be no life on earth and that it is up to us humans to ensure the future of bees, an endangered species providing a continued harvest of honey and other natural products.
At Eden Roots, Kojane has a posse of business advisors to guide her in making informed decisions and plans. She admits to trying her hand at a few other ventures before finding that bee keeping is her calling.
Finding modern hives from overseas too expensive, Kojane now successfully uses African-designed beehives and her future goal is to train as many bee keepers in her lifetime as possible, driving positive change and greening a planet in the throes of severe climate change.
Kojane believes that women will find many answers to the various problems in the world and the fact that they are resilient, hardworking and smart would empower them to rise to the challenge of being successful, not only in creating a greener environment, but in caring for their families and communities as well.
