Yemeni women turn traditional home-made cooking into successful businesses

It is seldom easy to start a business anywhere, let alone in a war-torn country like Yemen. The almost eight-year conflict there has left the country an economic wreck, while increasing inflation is further squeezing the pockets of an already desperately impoverished and insecure people.

Now, undeterred by social and financial obstacles, some Yemeni women are attempting to do what they can to overcome the pressures on them and their families by cooking their way to a better life.

Fatima Ismail, a divorced mother of four in Taiz province, was struggling to provide for her family but was reluctant to rely on charity or handouts, preferring to maintain her independence.

"I'm a housewife who doesn't have any experience in any job, and I don't have money, so it was difficult for me to find work or to establish my own business," Ismail told Middle East Eye.

'We choose this business because it keeps our dignity, and it isn't against the traditions'

- Fatima Ismail

Last year, she was discussing her situation with her neighbours and relatives, and they hit upon the idea of going into business.

They all agreed that Ismail was a good cook, so she and two others decided to start cooking at her home and selling to customers.

"We started last year, and there were difficult moments. We used to cook but couldn't sell, as we didn't have customers [at that time]," she said. "We used to cook for 10 people only, but marketing was a challenge."

Even so, Ismail, with a range of traditional foods and sweets, step-by-step attracted more customers as her food's reputation began to spread.

Now she can get around 30,000 Yemeni riyal ($30) a day, divided among the three women, a substantial amount in a country where the average income is $2,213 a year.

"We coordinated with a delivery company, and that helped us to get more customers, so now we sell most of our food through the delivery companies," she said.

Ismail and her friends sell only take-away food, and they don't meet the buyers or the delivery people, as some Yemenis consider it shameful for women to open a restaurant and meet customers. Ismail and her colleagues identify as conservatives.

"We choose this business because it keeps our dignity, and it isn't against the traditions. Our mothers used to make bread and send it to market, and this is still there, and what we do is cook different kinds of food and send to customers," she said.

Ismail and her friends sell only food for lunch and sweets, but they plan to develop their business and cook more kinds of food and attract more business.

Close to bankruptcy

Samira Bakil, a Yemeni woman who started selling Yemeni sweets two years ago, said that in the beginning all her customers were only relatives and friends.

"I have a bachelor's degree in accountancy but no way to find a job nowadays, so I had to think about my own business," she told MEE. "Making bint al-sahn [a traditional cake covered with honey] was my first step."

Her first buyers were neighbours, relatives and friends, but she could attract no other customers even when she expanded her range of sweets.

"I was about to close my business, as it was difficult to market my sweets while I'm only at home," she said.

Then some friends advised her to start marketing her products through social media, especially WhatsApp, and this way Bakil started to get more customers.

"Nowadays the customers come through the delivery companies, and I work well. I know some friends who closed their projects, and they regret it today," she said. "Any business needs patience."

One woman who has discovered the truth of this is Elham, who sells home-made food but is still struggling to find buyers and only works now and again upon getting an order.

"I failed to find customers, and my relatives and friends were the only ones, so now I only work occasionally, usually during Eid."

The need to find some sort of income using even just traditional domestic skills is widespread. Out of 30.5 million Yemenis, 20.7 million need humanitarian assistance and up to 19 million are food insecure, according to the World Food Programme.

Yemenis have resorted to starting their own businesses in recent years for different reasons. Some homes have lost their breadwinners amid the violence of war, while in others a surviving money-earner cannot provide for their family on their own.

At the same time, the new home-cooking enterprises have met demand from other Yemenis, often uprooted by the chaos of conflict and hungry for some of the things in life that a home can best provide, not least nourishing home cooking.

Cleaner and healthier

Ala'a Abubaker is a single man who had been getting his food from restaurants and had home-made food only when he visited his family in his village, but recently he started to have home-made food in the city.

"I prefer home-made food because it is cleaner than the food of restaurants, and it is healthy and delicious. It also reminds me of my mother's food," Abubaker told MEE. "Recently, I have been ordering home-made food from the new businesses of women who sell it through delivery companies."

Abubaker said the prices were acceptable, similar to those of restaurants. The only issue was that sometimes he might have to wait for half-an-hour or more until a delivery arrived.

"In general, such food is amazing, and I advise people to try it, and I hope there will be restaurants where customers can sit and have such home-made food," he said.

Abdulillah Saeed also prefers home-made food and usually orders it from women, but he said his main aim was to encourage projects by women who were the family breadwinners.

"It is a big challenge for women to provide for families in the current situation, so we should support them to start their businesses," he told MEE.

"The food is good. Sometimes the delivery arrives late, and sometimes we receive food different from what we ordered, but I think that if the women continue they will overcome all challenges."

He believes that any business faces difficulties, and this is particularly the case for the women starting up home-cooking enterprises as they are new to business. But perseverance is a key ingredient in the recipe for success.

"I know many women who have succeeded in their businesses, and now they hire workers, so some training on management and maybe financial support to the current small businesses will make them better."

Ismail agreed, saying they all had to do their best to overcome such challenges.

"I heard some comments about the time of delivery, as that affects the quality of the food, and sometimes it doesn't arrive warm enough, but we are trying to solve such problems."