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| Features |
| Mulinga’s quest for excellence |
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by
Josephine Kwizombe—Malawi News Agency., 27 April 2006
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07:02:26
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As Malawi strives to increase its exports, a local association of entrepreneurs is out to prove that the country’s products can compete on the international market.
Mulinga Producers Association (MPA) is keen to prove wrong Malawians who look down on locally manufactured goods, and prefer imported ones instead.
Located in Chibwana Village, Traditional Authority Kuntaja, about seven kilometres from Blantyre City centre, MPA manufactures cooking oil from sunflower, Neem (Azadirachta indica) and groundnuts.
MPA started in 1999 as a family business concentrating in poultry, fish and maize farming, and oil refinery. The association is composed of various organisations under the One Village One Product (OVOP) concept.
The family used to manufacture cooking oil from sunflower and groundnuts using a small machine it acquired at a cost of K3, 000. Although the business lacked resources, 18 families later joined them.
The association’s Managing Director Annie Bonomali said the group would not be there if it were not for its members’ commitment, claiming it has often been denied loans.
It is because of this financial hardship that they formed one grouping, MPA, comprising various business groups, but working together towards rural development through OVOP.
OVOP was launched on November 12, 2003 by former President Bakili Muluzi to bring together people producing the same products from the same area to empower them economically.
“We tried to convince the chiefs of these areas about the importance of using local materials for income generation. The chiefs allowed us to educate the community,” said Bonomali, who was once hired by the International Eye Foundation to educate people of Chikwawa on how to make oil from Cham’mwamba tree
To encourage locals to grow more of the crops, civic education was also carried out in other areas where the core plants are grown. The grouping raised K50, 000 as capital and continued to use the same machine. Not surprisingly, they produced little oil and failed to meet demand.
Nonetheless, in 2002, MPA came first at the Southern African Development Committee (SADC) women in business trade fair held at Chichiri Trade Fair in Blantyre.
That MPA’s products were the best at the fair proves wrong Malawians who look down on locally made goods.
“The problem is that people don’t take locally made products seriously,” Bonomali told Mana.
She added: “Can you imagine that we came first, (at this fair) seconded by Botswana, because we exhibited local products, yet nobody came forw?.”
Chief Executive of Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry Chancellor Kaferapanjira told journalists in Blantyre recently that the country’s economy does not seem to be improving because it uses the little foreign exchange it has to import goods, instead of exporting.
He urged government to transform Malawi into a producing and exporting economy. It is along these lines that this year’s 18th international trade fair carries the theme “ Building a producing and exporting nation”.
Kaferapanjira said MCCI has linked a lot of small-scale business people to international markets through such fairs and is hopeful that others would benefit from the forthcoming fair too.
MPA produces cooking oil, body lotion, shoe polish, fruit jam and chilli. They also have a fish pond. The products are exported to South Africa and Botswana.
The Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA) has been supporting MPA through OVOP since May, 2005 and MPA took this as an opportunity to ask for assistance to expand.
The grouping has been writing proposals to various Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for funding, but to no avail.
But when they submitted a proposal to JICA, they were promised 70 percent of the K315, 000 funding which was required for the whole project. JICA also volunteered to provide brand labels for the group’s products.
JICA’s support to MPA is part of its grant assistance, which requires the community’s 30 percent contribution to the project, and JICA pays the rest.
MPA contributed 30 percent to the project, which included building a two-roomed house currently being used as a factory and an office.
Bonomali revealed that transportation of their products is a major problem and costly since the factory is situated seven kilometres away from Blantyre City.
“We are situated in the outskirts of Blantyre City and transportation of these products to trade fair and other markets is a major problem,” he said.
She said they are competing with big companies, that are using advanced technology in production, and are able to satisfy demands.
Programme Officer for JICA Godfrey Kapalamula told Mana the business groups would boost the country’s economy if they aggressively marketed their products, both locally and abroad.
“The future of this project entirely depends on how they market these products. They need to get new ways of marketing when they attend international fairs,” said Kapalamula.
According to OVOP National Coordinator, Bruce Munthali, K16 million has been spent so far on various OVOP projects throughout the country.
Munthali also disclosed that government allocated K17 million in 2005 for operations, and JICA contributed K375 million to OVOP to be used for five years to buy machinery and in marketing and product quality operations.
“There is stiff market competition, so there is need for OVOP groups to improve on product presentation which is a problem in the country’s industry,” said Munthali. He said OVOP is planning to establish supermarkets as one way of promoting local products, which many people do not like to use.
He said they plan to export tomato jam, groundnuts flour, dried fish and rice to boost the country’s economy through foreign exchange earnings.
He said OVOP has 48 projects throughout the country and in a bid to improve quality, some districts, including Nsanje, Zomba, Nkhata Bay, Machinga, Dedza, Mzimba and Karonga received rice mills and palm oil machines. |
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