By Brenda Nkosi
A Peanut butter making company in Chileka, Blantyre, Theophilus Investment has attributed its expansion to a $50 thousand and $20 thousand grant received from Centre for Agricultural Transformation (CAT) in the last four years, a project implemented by Land OLakes Venture37.
Speaking during a visit to the factory on Monday, Managing Director for Theophilus Investment, Dyson Milanzie said they were making the butter in the house to sell to neighbors before the support.
“The grant has enabled us expand to Lilongwe, Mangochi, Blantyre, Machinga and Zomba which has increased our sells drastically in the last five years.
“Initially it was two people, I and my wife, making the butter but now we employ 15 people, have bought factory machinery, are certified by Malawi Bureau of Standards and Halal, and have branded and marketed our products,” he said.
Milanzie said with the expansion, they buy 18 tonnes of groundnuts each year from the initial two tonnes in a year and have moved from buying from only 300 farmers to 1,500 farmers, also linked through CAT.
He therefore called on government to promote agri-businesses in the country as they preserve forex since 90 percent of the raw materials are sourced locally, create jobs and are a forex earner when exported.
Communications Specialist at CAT, Mike Chipalasa said with funding from the Global Action to End Smoking, they support smallholder farmers to diversify their production, increase productivity and incomes for improved household incomes.
“For the past six years, CAT has directly impacted over 80, 000 smallholder farmers and indirectly reached over 860, 000 with a range of agricultural technologies and innovations, agricultural extension, market and financial access as well as strengthening their capacity for value addition,” Chipalasa said.
He said almost 35 agri-businesses have been supported across the country through the project.
Theophilus Investment also makes fresh groundnuts flour (locally called Nsinjiro) and Roasted nuts.
