Farmers under Bowe Mission Farmers Cooperative (BOMFA) have appealed to organizations and donors to assist them with oil refinery equipment and warehouses so that they can improve the quality and production of their cooking oil business.
Located in Jembe Village, T/A Mphomwa in Kasungu District, BOMFA Cooperative has been producing cooking oil from Sunflower.
Chairperson of the Cooperative Colleta Kamanga said they are failing to get certified by the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) because they do not have Oil refinery equipment and enough storage space.
“For us to penetrate the bigger markets such as Shoprite, Chipiku and others, we need to be certified by MBS. However we don’t have oil refinery machine and that has made it difficult for us to get certified,” said Kamanga.
She added: “At the moment we are selling our cooking oil to markets around us but it is our wish to take our product to bigger markets to make even bigger profits.”
She said with the machine, they will be able to produce more litres of cooking oil within a short period of time unlike now where it takes many days and more hands to produce enough cooking oil.
Speaking after touring the Cooperative on Thursday, Transforming Agriculture through Diversification and Entrepreneurship (TRADE) Programme’s knowledge and communications specialist Oscar Ulili advised BOMFA Cooperative to apply for a Grant to meet its needs.
“We have a matching Grant facility known as Agricultural Commercialisation Innovation Fund (ACIF), so BOMFA as a farmer-based organization is eligible to apply for the Grant.”
He added: “For them to qualify they need to put their Agribusiness ideas in a concept note, in that case they need to propose that they want a refinery equipment that will enable them to complete the refinery process so that MBS can certify their product.”
If they do that, Ulili said, TRADE is ready to provide the funds so that they procure the refinery equipment.
“We are also ready to build their capacity so that they meet the standards that MBS is looking for,” said Ulili.
BOMFA Cooperative that was established in 2005, is also into maize, soya beans, sunflower, groundnuts and beans farming. The cooperative also supports its members with farm inputs such as seeds and fertilizer, members are also given an opportunity to borrow funds to support their families’ needs.