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| Business |
| Likuni Phala flies to Sudan |
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by
George Ntonya, 25 August 2004
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18:11:21
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Likuni Phala and Sibusiso, Malawi’s new high energy food supplement, Wednesday formed part of a multimillion Kwacha consignment of relief items airlifted to war torn Darfour in Sudan.
Gift of Givers Foundation, a South African non-governmental organisation, has bought R5 million worth of tents, drugs, plastic buckets and other items from their country and two metric tonnes of Sibusiso (4000 bottles) and five metric tonnes of Likuni Phala from Rab Processors Limited to donate to conflict victims in Darfur, where hundreds of people continue to die as Arab nomadic tribes and African communities there quarrel over scarce resources.
“Being in Africa, Sudan needed a quick African response. That is why we have decided to donate these relief items,” said chairman of Gift of Givers Foundation Imtiaz Ismail Sooliman at Lilongwe International Airport (Lia), where they collected the consignment from Rab Processors before flying to Sudan in a huge chartered cargo plane.
He said the foundation, which gets 90 percent of its money from the Muslim community of South Africa, intends to make a similar donation soon when Muslims will be celebrating their month of Ramadan.
Minister of Trade Eunice Kazembe was among the people who met the South Africans and commended the foundation for its gesture.
“We are Africans and should be at the fore front to help fellow Africans,” she said.
Rab Processors Ltd commercial manager Sai Kiran Josyabhatla described the transaction with the foundation as “not entirely commercial”, saying the company has also made some contribution towards the donation. He could not disclose the bill to the foundation for the goods.
Sibusiso Ready Food is said to be a highly nutritious instant food supplement containing peanut paste, milk and sugar with vanilla flavour. According to Josyabhatla, children above six month can take a tablespoon of the paste while adults can take up to three tablespoons per day for them to remain energetic.
“This product has been developed in view of the malnutrition problem in the country and the whole southern African region. It can be complete food on its own,” he said.
People in Darfour will be the first to consume the product on a large scale and Rab Processors Ltd intends to have it on the market by November.
“At the moment we are ready to supply non-governmental organisations for their food relief programmes, but it will be on the shelves of the local shops in the next one and a half months.”
Established in August 1992, Gift of Givers Foundation has delivered about R130 of aid to millions of people in 20 countries including , Bosnia, Iraq and Malawi.
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