Hands On: Business as Usual

Comm: "Who would imagine mobile phones are a good business proposition for women in rural Bangladesh? Or that peanut butter could help families survive Zimbabwe's economic crisis? "Back in Business" learns tricks of the trade from entrepreneurs around the world as hard-pressed locals combine innovative ideas and business savvy in their quest to make a profit."

Sardinia: Pasqua's Paradise

Comm: "It's not as jam-packed as the Costa del Sol but the impact of tourism on the Sardinian coast is taking a heavy toll."

Vanni Pucconi, ARCA: "Well we have communities on the coast that during winter spring and autumn only have a few hundred people living in them and then the population just shoots up to hundreds of thousands in the peak months plus there is an impact on the wild life species with boats - monk seal has already become extinct."

Comm: "And it's not just species at risk."

Vanni Pucconi: "And if we let the load on the beaches continue to grow it will put itself out of work - and the whole thing will go to the dogs."

Comm: "With its stunning scenery, untouched villages and ancient ruins inland Sardinia has a lot to offer" If they could tap these attractions and lure tourists away from the beaches there's a chance the coast line could be saved."

Vanni Pucconi: "It's absolutely vital we have tourism in the interior of Sardinia aswell to take off the load from the beaches so as to avoid the interior becoming depopulated."

Comm: "At Su Gologone pioneering businesswoman Madame Pasqua has proved there's temptation beyond the beach.

"Madame Pasqua's secret is her conviction that local recipes, produce and traditions have pulling power " Pasta from the Pasqua kitchens is famous" Maria Tupponi has been hand rolling it for nearly twenty years.

"Roast pork is another speciality.

"It may look easy but training the staff has taken many years of hard work" It wasn't like this when she and her husband started out."

Madame Pasqua: "We had a real problem of personnel who we had to train as there were no schools at the time and we wanted local personnel from Oliena" Even getting adequate supplies of pork and lamb was difficult as people didn't understand bulk buying."

Comm: "Madame Pasqua's impact stretches far beyond the hotel boundaries. She's created jobs in nearby Oliena and gives locals an incentive to stay - instead of leaving for better pay on the coast."

Vanni Pucconi: "Su Gologone is an excellent example of the kind of thing we should have here.

"First of all because it has been the first significant example of how to make money from being a Sardininian or an Oleanese" It's hard to put a value on that so it has built confidence in the value of local products, it has built pride in their spirit and in their culture which is an essential ingredient if you are going to be a craftsman for instance" And instead of trying to imitate objects from another culture you are going to produce your objects and put a value on them and make them better and sell them."

Comm: "Tourism isn't just about a boom in local arts and crafts.

"Things like trekking and carefully managed eco-tourism create jobs for younger people."

Vanni Pucconi: "We see a lot of young people now who instead of looking for jobs on the continent or in cities or in industry who are setting up their own enterprise in eco-tourism crafts or whatever."

Comm: "So the message that came out of this place your culture has a value we are proud of being of being Oleanese, Sardinians and we can earn a good way of life through this."

Kenya: Banking on Women

Comm: "This is the story of Jane, Anne, Catherine and Elizabeth.

"And the other women of Kenya who've fought the system to start businesses and gain financial stability and independence.

"Like many Kenyan towns, Karatina has a lot of thriving small businesses. But if you're a woman, you've got problems.

"Elizabeth Wambui has struggled to set up a hair and beauty salon in Karatina's business district."

Elizabeth Wambui: "It's very difficult to get a loan from the bank because the bank will require securities we don't have, like a title deed, and women don't have that."

Comm: "Despite the anti-women prejudice, Elizabeth Wambui and many like her in Karatina have bucked the system. They run their own market stalls, restaurants, shoemaking enterprises - even a thriving maternity clinic.

"An astonishing variety of businesses - and each woman has started from almost nothing.

"They've also discovered a belief in themselves."

Catherine Nyawira Kiama (Shoe Maker): "I had no capital" I was not capable of doing some work.

"Then I am capable of doing everything."

Comm: "So how have these women achieved so much despite prejudice from banks and other financial institutions?

"Thanks to the KWFT - or Kenya Women's Finance Trust - there are loans for the poorest of women. The ones the banks won't touch.

Comm: "The women are formed into groups. Elizabeth Wambui is chairwoman of hers, elected by the other members. Each group joins various savings schemes. If you want to borrow you must be a regular saver. The group's combined deposits then guarantee any defaults by individuals.

"You're fined if you're late or for miss the regular meetings.

"The scheme has changed Elizabeth's life."

Elizabeth Wambui: "I'm paying school fees for my children. I've also started farming with the saloon - the money I acquire from the loan, when I put it in the saloon, it gives me more money and I've started farming at home, so I've put the money in the farm. I've got a cow, I'm also selling vegetables at home."

Comm: "The scheme excludes risky ventures like farming. But Elizabeth is so successful she can recycle her own profits from the salon."

Elizabeth Wambui: "Now the profit I get, I bring it in the chamba. Now I've got three cows. I started with one. Now I've got three."

Comm: "Elected group officials and the head of the local KWFT office head for Barclays Bank to collect their annual interest".

"There's no shortage of loan applications. You start with a small one, pay it off and then get a bigger one - new money to invest or expand.

"The scheme also runs courses in the basics of business admin."

Anna Wandia Njaaga: "I have gone to seminars and I have learnt how to keep the books because I have got to account for everything. How to market my goods. After buying you have to know how the profit and you still have to have the working capital there so that you don't consume it."

Comm: "The savings schemes can build up to serious money. Interest payments are split between members according to how much they've saved. There's also a separate savings scheme - the merry-go-round fund - that's collected every week. The whole amount is given to each woman in turn. They can deal with any money problems or maybe invest in the business."

Elizabeth Wambui: "The loan scheme means Elizabeth Wambui has already fulfilled many of her ambitions" But she still has many hopes for the future.

"I started here in my small house it's a two roomed house. The I turned myself into a business where I was given a loan and I started my business. I constructed this bigger house, it's six roomed. I also have a TV. I also bought a solar panel, 'cos here we don't have electricity power. I've done a lot in my house

Comm: "Many other businesswomen in Karatina can now look to the future with hope and ambition."

Catherine Nyawira Kiama: "My hope is to have a large workshop and employ so many people for assistant."

Anna Wandia Njaaga: "I'm hoping to expand my business more than this and maybe it will help me to educate my children and make a better future for my family."

Portugal: Another Issue

Comm: "An estimated 100 million people worldwide have no roof to live under. If you include those living in temporary shelters - like shacks - the number rises to 1000 million.

"Lisbon, like other capitals, attracts thousands of people looking for work. If you have no job - and no savings - the streets soon become home. With no formal address its hard to escape the cycle of poverty.

"Now, thanks to a novel self-help scheme - there's a way out.

"It's modelled on a British idea - the 'Big Issue' CAIS - or 'gateway' is a monthly magazine sold on the streets by vendors looking for an honest income.

"Started in 1994, CAIS is run today by Augusto Marques."

Augusto Reis Marques: "We survive through state subsidies, subscription and corporate support with the companies backing a certain number of issues. The only cost that Cais has is the paper."

Comm: "Vendors get 80% of the selling price. That's 300 escudos, about $1.50 per magazine.

"How much they really make is up to how many they want to sell, plus a bit of luck. But it pays to be courteous and patient."

Anibal Ferreira: "You need to be positive, smiley and be optimistic that you are going to sell more."

Comm: "The other 20% of the selling price goes to homeless charities. The aim is not to make money, but to help people prepared to help themselves."

Maria Franco: "I was sleeping outside my mother's home and she wouldn't open the door. Then my husband asked my father if they'd open it but they wouldn't even though I was pregnant. If it wasn't for the magazine helping me out I might still be stretched out on the floor.

Comm: "CAIS does work. Maria's husband used to sell on the streets, too. His steady qualities were recognised by a policeman who helped him find permanent work as a security guard.

Carlos Franco: "It was thanks to my friend, a policeman, who liked me that I was able to leave the street. As he said it's time to get you out of this life and I'll get you a job. So that's why I've got this one now.

Comm: "At any one time CAIS has about 100 to 150 vendors. They sell a print run of 34,000 copies a month."

Augusto Reis Marques: "There are several stages in the production of Cais first of all the editorial staff meet and decide the topics for the year; then there's a group of photographers who offer their services for free and who are contacted once the subjects have been decided so that they can provide suitable photographs."

Comm: "Tapping into professional expertise is essential. Vendors need to sell a proper magazine. But since there's not much text and photos are donated it's easy to turn out a monthly edition.

Augusto Reis Marques: "We don't want these people to sell the magazine for the rest of their lives what we want is to bring them back from the margins and reintegrate them into society."

Comm: "The impact of CAIS has been huge."

Carlos Franco: "I love selling it and the possibilities that it gives me because it's really helped my life a lot mainly because it's helped me integrate with people on a daily basis."

Zimbabwe: Buttering Up

Comm: "As the economic recession worsens in Zimbabwe, unemployment reaches record levels. Factory closures are common place. There's never been a more pressing need to find new ways of making money. The trick, though, is to choose a product that's in demand."

Vox Pop 1: "I often have peanut butter in my porridge because it's nutritious and delicious."

Comm: "Ground peanuts were being used in African stews 500 years ago".

Vox Pop 2: "I had peanut butter for breakfast. Why? Because it's cheap. I give it to my children because I have groundnuts which I can make myself and it's a good source of protein."

Comm: "A daily ounce of roasted peanuts provides 10% of the folate needed by pregnant women to reduce birth defects.

"Peanut butter isn't new to Zimbabwe. For centuries its been made through a process of pounding and grinding. And used from everything to spicing up a cup of tea to adding flavour to the local delicacy - caterpillar!!

Vox Pop 3: "Oh I can't tell you the taste if you Ah, it's delicious."

Comm: "Growing evidence suggests that if you eat enough roasted peanuts you can lower the risk of heart disease.

"As the nation's most popular spread it's the perfect product for a small enterprise, specially now that pounding and grinding is out and pulping is in.

"So how do you make the perfect peanut butter?

"At Anna Donga's they do everything except grow the nuts. Once she's bought a bulk supply it's a long process - sorting, roasting, cleaning, pulping and packaging. The biggest investment is the pulping machine - s around 400 US dollars. And the biggest question is whether you want a smooth or crunchy product. Once you've decided it's quite straightforward. You pulp once for a crunchy texture and twice for a smooth one.

"Anna Donga's venture began as a cooperative. But there were problems with the workers husbands who complained their wives were getting home too late. She decided to go it alone.

"The women who work with her now are friends who give their time in exchange for grinding their own peanuts. Anna not only sells processed peanut butter. She also hires out her milling machines.

"The earliest peanut butter grinders were invented in 1896."

Vox Pop 4: "I usually eat it in my porridge not with bread."

Comm: "Best of all peanut butter does not need to be refrigerated.

"But what do the women think of the peanut butter?

"Why should you buy peanut butter?"

Woman: "You should buy peanut butter because it is good for breakfast, lunch and tea."

Comm: "If you're not convinced, there's even a peanut butter song.

"Out of the ten people asked only one wasn't a peanut butter fan."

Bangladesh: Get Mobile

Comm: "The 125 million inhabitants of Bangladesh have the lowest rate of telephone penetration in the world - just three telephones per thousand. Mostly in cities. With waiting lists three years long the mobile phone was just waiting to happen."

Salaam Wa Alaykum: "Hello! Hello!"

Comm: "Just three years ago the sight and sound of a mobile was virtually non existent. Now the country has 100,000 mobile subscribers.

"The mobile phone is no longer an exclusive accessory. Here in Bangladesh it offers vital communications links and generates income for some of the poorest villagers in the world.

"Shazeda Begum is one of 900 women who are buying a mobile phone by weekly instalments through the Village Pay Phone scheme. It's a non-profit venture founded by the micro-lending Grameen Bank.

"The Bank which specialises in loans to poor women saw mobile phones as an ideal opportunity for small enterprise.

"To qualify for a telephone the loan manager must be sure the woman has a good loan repayment record and a knowledge of accounts.

"Ideally the village phone operator should live in the centre of the village so customers don't have far to go."

Grameen Phone Man: "Relatives live abroad. The village phone is being used for various purposes one of course is the social need a lot of bangladeshis."

Comm: "Rashida Aktar's husband lives in Saudi Arabia. She only sees him once a year. Before the Village Pay Phone Scheme there was no phone within walking distance. Now she can talk to her husband once a week".

"There are other benefits too. People are no longer dependent on the middleman to tell them the price of grain."

Grameen Phone Man: "A villager can now call the warehouses - so they are getting a better bargaining power, that is one way that is helping improvement of the local economy and the benefit is that woman is now getting."

Comm: "Had Shezeda ever used a telephone before?"

Shezeda: "I had never used a telephone before. The mobile is the first phone I've ever used. Grameen phone taught me how to use it."

Comm: "It's not surprising a local phone operator here earns around 700 US dollars a year - well above the average earnings of a rural villager."

Grameen Man: "It's absolutely an appropriate technology - the technology has to be brought into the level of ordinary people so mobile technology is not just for the niche market and it's been proven in Bangladesh that GSM phone can be a source of income and be taken down to the bottom line of the population."

Phone chap: "Hallo, Hallo, Hallo."