Since graduating, Forget has continued to take a lead in innovative initiatives and implementation of practical solutions in sustainable agribusiness, community development, small enterprises, and the climate innovation field.
She is the founder of LiHFA (Life Hope Future Association) and co-founder and Business Development Director for Chashi Foods. She is currently working as an Environmental, Sustainability and Governance (ESG) Officer at Viberoptix.
Following the announcement, Dean, Professor Wendy Loretto said: “Many congratulations Forget on your very deserving win. We are all very proud of you at the Business School.
“It has been fascinating to follow your journey since your MSc, in particular to hear about your work in empowering both younger people and women in agribusiness and entrepreneurship with vocational skills in Zimbabwe and Costa Rica.”
The University of Edinburgh’s annual alumni award highlights the stories of alumni whose lives and achievements should be shared and celebrated in particular those whose actions positively affect others.
Photo credit: Ejay Freeman
On the night, Forget spoke about her joy at winning the Being Edinburgh award:
Thank you so much for this award. I'm feeling overwhelmed with joy. It means a lot - not only to me but to where I come from and the many girls who will look up to this. It also means a lot to everyone who has contributed to my success, who has held my hand throughout this journey.
“I’m continuing with the work I do as well as focusing more on environment, sustainability and governance, and I'm so glad to announce that I'm involved in the early stages of introducing ESG in the African context. So it's an exciting journey for me, because I bring different skills to the initiative that I'm working on, to make sure that we tell the African sustainability narrative in a way that is more understandable and that is more contextual to Africans.”
Forget’s story
Forget grew up in a rural area in Zimbabwe, raised by her late grandmother. She attended a school there and later joined a secondary school under the sponsorship of NGO CAMFED.
She studied Agricultural Science in Costa Rica and in 2018, with her one-year professional work experience, she helped five farmers successfully establish business enterprises through capacity building in business administration, agro-processing, financial literacy, and marketing.
Forget came to Edinburgh in 2020 to study for the Business School’s MSc in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, graduating in 2021. Talking about her time on the MSc, Forget said:
When I came to Edinburgh from Zimbabwe, I was determined to achieve a better education and to gain the skills needed to amplify my community development work and to build my business. Infact I gained so much more than this: support to grow the business, global exposure, an introduction to sustainability which has shaped my career in ESG, and networks which have become my strong support system.
Since her MSc, Forget has continued to take a lead in innovative initiatives and implementation of practical solutions in sustainable agribusiness, community development, small enterprises, and the climate innovation field.
She is the Founder of LiHFA (Life Hope Future Association), which offers sustainable community development through education, agribusiness, youth and women empowerment; and is Co-founder and Business Development Director for Chashi Foods. Using renewable energy, the company endeavours to produce natural, highly nutritious, and tasty dried fruits and vegetables, with the aims to strengthen food and nutrition security, tackle food waste, promote sustainable income generation, reduce poverty and create employment to rural Zimbabwean women and youth.
Forget is also a vibrant agronomic engineer and award-winning entrepreneur and environmentalist and participated in Rural Community Development, COY16 and COP26, Youth in Agribusiness, and Girls on International Platforms.
Forget is also actively involved in community projects which emphasise sustainable development, smart climate agriculture, poverty alleviation, entrepreneurship, and empowerment. Under one of these projects, she co-developed an award-winning smart climate agriculture guide which was used by CAMFED to train more than 100,000 women and created employment for 770 young women across Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi and Ghana.
Currently, she is working as Environmental, Sustainability and Governance (ESG) Officer at Viberoptix. Forget is contributing on National Determined Contributions (NDCs) consultancy under the banner of inclusion and sustainable and regenerative agriculture.