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MARULA NATURAL PRODUCTS (PTY) LTD
Marula Natural Products is a marula oil
processing facility operating outside of Thulamahashe. Marula
Natural Products (MNP) was established in 1998 to develop
commercially viable products from the fruit of the indigenous
marula tree. It was established with donor funding as a joint
venture between the Mineworkers Development Agency (MDA) and
local community members (the MNP Community Trust). Marula oil
has been the primary product developed by MNP, but low market
demand, low productivity, and suboptimal business practices have
rendered MNP an unprofitable commercial entity despite generous
historical funding. MNP works with 200-400 women in 42
communities of Bushbuckridge. MNP has a strong commitment to
empower local unemployed women and is eager to restructure its
operations to diversify into more profitable product lines
providing greater and sustained benefits to community members.
TechnoServe has a mandate to support the turnaround of MNP in
order to create employment, develop local skills and knowledge,
and spur local economic development. TechnoServe has to date
assisted with a breakthrough in cracking and pressing
technology. New equipment is in the process of being built which
will significantly increase marula nut cracking productivity
from 500g of kernel per person per day, to around 2kg of kernel
per person per day. Marula crackers have been cracking the
marula nuts manually which is a very slow laborious procedure.
The new nut cracking machinery will ensure the marula crackers
earn at least a minimum daily wage (which currently stands at
around R40.35 a day).
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Nut
cracking competition at MNP |
There has been interest shown by a private marula company in the
purchase of a stake in MNP. As part of MNP’s medium term
strategy to become a self-sustaining commercial concern, a
private investor has been approached to take an equity stake in
the business, thereby reducing the Mineworker’s Development
Agency majority shareholding.
Marula Natural Products is a marula oil processing facility
operating outside of Thulamahashe. Marula Natural Products (MNP)
was established in 1998 to develop commercially viable products
from the fruit of the indigenous marula tree. It was established
with donor funding as a joint venture between the Mineworkers
Development Agency (MDA) and local community members (the MNP
Community Trust). Marula oil has been the primary product
developed by MNP, but low market demand, low productivity, and
suboptimal business practices have rendered MNP an unprofitable
commercial entity despite generous historical funding. MNP works
with 200-400 women in 42 communities of Bushbuckridge. MNP has a
strong commitment to empower local unemployed women and is eager
to restructure its operations to diversify into more profitable
product lines providing greater and sustained benefits to
community members.
TechnoServe has a mandate to support the
turnaround of MNP in order to create employment, develop local
skills and knowledge, and spur local economic development.
TechnoServe has to date assisted with a breakthrough in cracking
and pressing technology. New equipment is in the process of
being built which will significantly increase marula nut
cracking productivity from 500g of kernel per person per day, to
around 2kg of kernel per person per day. Marula crackers have
been cracking the marula nuts manually which is a very slow
laborious procedure. The new nut cracking machinery will ensure
the marula crackers earn at least a minimum daily wage (which
currently stands at around R40.35 a day).
There has been interest shown by a private marula company in the
purchase of a stake in MNP. As part of MNP’s medium term
strategy to become a self-sustaining commercial concern, a
private investor has been approached to take an equity stake in
the business, thereby reducing the Mineworker’s Development
Agency majority shareholding.
MNP PERSPECTIVES
An interview with Agnes Mahlakwane, production assistant,
revealed her take on the MNP business. Agnes describes
TechnoServe’s involvement as being primarily one of technical
assistance, although, “TechnoServe helps with many things”.
Agnes deems lack of funding to be the chief obstruction to
running a profitable business and believes the situation would
improve if MNP received more funding. Her long term wish for the
MNP business is for it to become a big company: “If we get more
kernels for pressing oil we will become a big company because
there is a big market for oil.”
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AGNES
MAHLAKWANE
Agnes Mahlakwane, production assistant for MNP, has
four children ranging in age from 9 years to 20
years old. She has just celebrated the birth of her
grandson. Previously she provided income for her
family by selling vegetables on a subsistence level.
She joined MNP in 2002. She has a Grade 10 level
education but she is presently learning how to use a
computer. Agnes does have a bank account but she
does not save. She would like to apply for a loan to
be able to send her daughter to the technicon in
Pretoria which would cost her R7000 for 6 months |
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NKANYI (MARULA TREE)
MNP aims to achieve employment and income
generation through the sustainable
exploitation of the indigenous Marula tree (Sclerocarya
birrea or nkanyi in siTsonga) Roughly 90% of
households currently collect marula fruit,
and slightly more currently use marula
products. Marula beer production, sale, and
consumption are highly important cultural
and economic activities to local
communities. The tree is a source of various
important products: fruit that can be eaten
fresh or made into juice, jam or beer; nuts
and kernels that constitute an important
food supplement and yield an edible oil;
bark and leaves with medicinal properties;
and wood for fuel. Fruit is collected after
it falls to the ground between January and
March. Non-traditional uses of marula have
also recently grown in importance, such as
marula pulp for production of high-value
Amarula liquer and marula oil for high-end
cosmetics products. The international market
for marula oil remains as yet relatively
untouched. Marula oil has unique properties:
low oxidization rate, high antioxidant
content and nutritional characteristics. |
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Marula Natural Products |
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