Sylvia Banda
Zambian restaurateur
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
Sylvia Banda | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1962 (age 63–64) |
| Alma mater | Fairview College |
| Occupations | Restaurateur, social entrepreneur, business executive |
| Organization | Sylva Group of Companies |
| Known for | Promoting Zambian indigenous food; training over 60,000 smallholder farmers |
| Title | Managing Director, Sylva Group; Chairperson, Africa Harvest (Zambia) |
| Spouse | Hector Banda |
| Awards | Ashoka Fellow (2012) |
Career
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]
