OVOP's Cassava flour is by Nankhaka Cassava Association in Lilongwe. Cassava flour can be used to make nsima and confectionary.

Our Main Products

Group Information

[Support from OVOP/JICA]
Supply of packages (plastic bags) for cassava flour, labels for banana wine, marketing.
[Support from Other Organizations]
US Embassy: dry racks; Malawi Industry Recourse Center: a drum oven for confectionary; Malawi Enterprise Development Institute: management capacity building, Initiative for Dev. & Equity in African Agriculture Malawi: group formation training; International Institute of Tropical Agriculture: new variety of cassava.
[Contribution by members]
MK500 per member, however the money was somehow mismanaged and only MK2,000 remains.
[Support by District Assembly]
None
[Background]
The Group was formed through the leader’s initiative to encourage farmers to grow cassava. Cassava is promoted because it does not require as much input as maize or other products while the revenues from the land are much higher (maize grain: 1.5 MT/acre x 28 MK/kg = 42,000 MK/acre, cassava grain: 25 MT/acre x 25 MK/kg = 625,000 MK/acre, cassava flour: 8 MT/acre x 70 to 100 MK/kg). The number of members decreased from 30 to 15, apparently because cassava needs one to two years to grow, thus not quickly providing farmers with revenues.
The Group leader has his own private company, which buys and processes cassava into flour and confectionaries, and sells the products.

Strength and Opportunities

[Human Resources]
The Group has an outstanding leader, who has know-how of overall management.
[Material and Products]
Cassava is fit with local environment (low requirement of inputs, high yield, climate, etc.), thus has good potential to replace imported wheat.
[Production]
The Group has a sufficient production capacity to respond to large orders (5 MT per day).
[Infrastructure]
Since there is no power supply to the flour processing factory, a diesel generator is used, which is costly.
[Wastes]
Wastes (husks, peels, etc.) are composted to be used as manure. The factory keeps cats to eradicate rats.

Challenges

[Human Resources]
There is a big capacity gap between the leader and members. As a result, Group members simply supply cassava to the leader.
[Material]
Most members are too poor to grow/keep seeds for the next harvest; thus, the leader needs to sell seeds to members.
[Market]
Since Malawians are not much familiar with cassava flour and its products, the market is underdeveloped. Campaigns are needed to inform the general public of the advantages of cassava product.
[Distribution]
Transport is unreliable and costly; the Group must depend on hitchhiking. Transport is currently too costly due to the Group's lack of bargaining power.
[Administration]
Since the Group has neither unity nor a functioning management structure, it has ceased to function.
[Quality Control and Sanitary Condition]
MBS requests all the processing facilities in one place if the factory is to be accredited. Since the application, MBS staff visits the factory every two months to inspect the sanitary condition and quality of products, and requests allowances.