Topic 2008 December-July
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Cooperative Sensitisation Meetings held
in Nkhotakota District.
18-19 Dec. 2008
Cooperative Sensitisation Meetings held at Benga Rice Group and Kasitu Rice Group in Nkhotakota District.
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Cooperative Sensitisation Meetings held
in Karonga District and in Nkhatabay District.
10-12 Dec. 2008
Cooperative Sensitisation Meetings held at Luflya water Users Association in Karonga District, Limphasa Water Users Association and Mkondezi Winery Group in Nkhatabay District.
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Visit to Mapanga Honey Producers by a Japanese Business Partiner.
17-19 Nov. 2008
Visit to Mapanga Honey Producers by Mr Yukio Mizuno a Japanese Business Partiner. The aim of the Visit is to Assess the Groups'capability in Handling honey Exports to Japan.
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Mkondezi Winery
13 Nov. 2008
Mkondezi Winery Construction Operations Discussed in Nkhatabay District.
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Coopeartive Sensitization Meetings.
6-7 Nov. 2008
Coopeartive Sensitization Meetings held at M'bwazi Rice Group in Nsanje District and Bvumbwe Vegetable Growers Association in Thyolo DisrictBvumbwe Tomato Processing Factory Construction Starts in Thyolo.
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Bvumbwe Tomato.
4 Nov. 2008
Bvumbwe Tomato Processing Factory Construction Starts in Thyolo.
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Japanese Ambassador Appreciates OVOP Activities.
3-4 Nov. 2008
His Excellency Mr Motoyoshi Noro, the Japanese Ambassador to Malawi, visited OVOP activities in November 2008. He arrived in Malawi in July 2008 and this was his first time to visit some of the activities of the OVOP Programme.
On 3 November 2008, the Ambassador visited the OVOP Antenna Shop. Admiring the variety of OVOP products, he stated: “Those products still have more potential to be promoted to the international market such as Japan”. Furthermore, he indicated that technical support is essential to improve the quality of the products. On 4 November, he visited Mitundu Agro-processing Group to see their oil processing factory and cassava bread bakery. After appreciating their impressive activities, he encouraged the group members by emphasizing: “Please do not chase the money for your business. Money will come to you when you start your business and produce better quality products. I wish your group would be chased by money in the near future,” OVOP Newsletter quotes.
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OVOP Secretariat participated at IWAM Bazaar.
1 Nov. 2008
OVOP Secretariat (Antenna Shop Staff) participated at IWAM Bazaar that took Place at Bishop Mackenzie International School. This was an Opportunity to Showcase OVOP Products to the International Community. Delegates to the Bazaar included Top Ranking Officials, Ambassadors and Commissioners.
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To visited Bwanje
30 Oct. 2008
OVOP Marketing section and South African Business Partiner Visited Bwanje Valley Rice Producers and Marketing Coopeartive to Discuss the Possibility of a Long Term Contract to Export Kirombero Rice to South Africa.
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OVOP Malawi Participated at a Mini Exhibition in South Africa Organised by Trade Africa
13-17 Oct. 2008
OVOP Malawi Participated at a Mini Exhibition in South Africa Organised by Trade Africa. The Fair was to Establish Business Agreements and Contacts with Participating Countries, Which included Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and South Africa.
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Coopeartive Member Educationwas.
13-17 Oct. 2008
Coopeartive Member Educationwas held at Mzimba District Assembly for Mzimba Gemstone Miners. This is part of Capacity Development as the Groups Prepares to form a Cooperative Society.
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Follow up Consultative workshop.
6-7 Oct. 2008
Follow up Consultative workshop for Common Wealth Secretariat on the Development of Strategic Options for OVOP Secretariat was Conducted at Malawi Institute of Management (MIM) in Lilongwe.
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Lufilya Rice Processing Mill
30 Sep. 2008
Lufilya Rice Processing Mill was Commissioned.
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OVOP Secretariat conducted orientation
25 Sep. 2008
OVOP Secretariat conducted orientation on Product Packaging and Costing for Muona Rice Milling Group and Biriwiri Farmers and Marketing Cooperative Society Limited.
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OVOP Secretariat held discussions.
25 Sep. 2008
OVOP Secretariat held discussions with Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) on the Progress of OVOP Product Certification.
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OVOP Group Training (OGT).
23-26 Sep. 2008
OVOP Group Training (OGT) for Malabada Conctrete Products Cooperative Society Limited and Mapanga Honey Producers and Marketing Cooperative Soiety Limited was conducted at Thuchila RTC in Mulanje.
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New Project prososal Assessment.
15 Sep.-14 Nov. 2008
New Project prososal Assessment and Feild appraisals were conducted for Central, North and Southern Region by OVOP Secretariat and OVOP Desk Officers from District Assemblies.
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Food processing training course in Japan.
15 Sep.-15 Nov. 2008
Mr Kingsley Masamba and Mr Owen Kantikana from the Department of Home Economics and Human Nutrition at Bunda College of Agriculture, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, attended a two-month training course in Food Processing at JICA Obihiro International Centre from 15 September to 14 November 2008. This course was made possible by the initiative of the One Village One Product (OVOP) programme in Malawi with financial support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The participants highlighted notable organized systems with regard to food processing in Japan as follows:
Effective Agricultural Cooperatives
Presence Specialty Foods
Organized Shops Along The Roads
Specialized Agricultural High Schools
Presence of Food Research Centers
Use of Product Quality Traceability Systems
Observance of Good Hygienic Practices
The participants appreciated the knowledge and skills gained during the training course and indicated that they are now well conversant with the following aspects of food processing:
Food processing practices and processing of different products such as noodle making, cheese making, sausages and baked products.
Product development.
Operation of small-scale and large-scale food industries.
Organization of government controlled community activities in food processing.
Having successfully accomplished the training course, the following recommendations were suggested by the participants:
There should be a closer working partnership between the OVOP secretariat and Bunda College so that OVOP groups and other small-scale agro-processors benefit fully from the skills and knowledge acquired by the participants.
There is need for opening of more OVOP shops in major cities and trading centres to promote the products.
There is need for more advertisements about OVOP products in local media.
There is need for microbiological evaluation of OVOP products and other products sold locally to establish the microbiological safety of the products.
There is need for upgrading of the laboratory at Bunda College which is a resource centre for the OVOP programme so that it can be used efficiently in carrying out research and analysis to improve the OVOP products.
There is need to improve the presentation of OVOP products in terms of labeling and packaging so that they can comply with international food standards.
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Cooperative sensitization meetings.
16-17 Sep. 2008
Cooperative sensitization meetings held with Mzimba Gemstone Miners in Mzimba District, Wovwe Water Users Association and Hara Water Users Association in Karonga District.
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OVOP participated at the Review Programme.
6-16 Sep. 2008
OVOP participated at the Review Programme for Participatory Local Social Development, Dar saalam in Tanzania. The aim was to follow up and enhance PSLD into the National Programmes and Projects.
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Commonwealth Secretariat consultations.
27 Aug.-15 Sep. 2008
Commonwealth Secretariat consultations with stakeholders on the development of strategic options for OVOP Secretariat. Consultations are being conducted by Mr Ramesh Arunachalam in liason with OVOP Secretariat.
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OVOP Group Training (OGT).
26-29 Aug. 2008
OVOP Group Training (OGT) for Biriwiri Farmers and Marketing Cooperative Society Limited was conducted at NICE Offices and RTC in Ntcheu. Topics covered included OVOP Concept Understanding, Introduction to Improved Skills for Food Processing, Marketing Strategy, Product Packagig and Labelling and Participatory Business Training.
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The Reseach.
25-29 Aug. 2008
OVOP Malawi through JICA hosted Research Fellows from Overseas Development Institute. The Reseach fellows (Dr Dirk te Verde and Dr Fletcher Tembo) visited selected active and upcoming OVOP groups to learn experiences from Malawi's OVOP Programme.
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OVOP Antenna Shop Opens in Lilongwe Area 3.
25 Aug. 2008
In line with OVOP’s mandate of establishing market promotion mechanisms for locally produced value-added products, the Secretariat has opened an OVOP shop in Lilongwe, which started its operations on 25 August 2008. The main aim of the shop is to market OVOP products effectively. It is envisaged that the shop will provide an opportunity for OVOP groups to promote their products and hence maximize profits and, in the long run, reduce poverty.
Specifically, the shop, apart from selling the products, aims at achieving the following:
Assessing the market potential of OVOP products in the domestic and international markets.
Seeking guidance on product improvement from visiting customers.
Provision of market information to OVOP groups.
Promotion of the OVOP brand.
The products being sold in the shop include baobab jam, baobab oil, moringa oil, dried vegetables, banana wine, cassava flour, Kilombero and Faya rice, among others. The shop boasts of having premier local Malawian products, which are sold at affordable prices. The shop is currently enjoying a lot of patronage due to the nature of the products being offered, as evidenced by the sales figures below.
It is expected that, after a one year operation, depending on the performance, two more shops will be opened in Blantyre and Mzuzu. Please pay us a visit and experience the difference. This is the place for all those who go for pure, original products. Be proud of our local produce.
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Zimbabwe mission visit to OVOP Malawi.
18-21 Aug. 2008
Adelegation of six officials from Zimbabwe visited the Malawi OVOP Programme to learn about the institutional set-up of the OVOP Programme in Malawi. The visit was made from 18 to 21 August 2008. The delegation comprised Zimbabwe Government officers from the Ministries of Economic Development, Small and Medium Enterprises, Agriculture and Gender.
The team in Malawi was led by the Deputy Ambassador, Mr Willard Matondlotya, in the company of the Missions Councillor, Riana Chibande, from the Zimbabwe High Commission in Lilongwe. The team visited Bwanje Rice Producers and Irrigation Cooperative in Dedza and Mitundu Agro-processing Clubs in Lilongwe in the Central Region. In the south, groups met were Khumbo Oil Refinery in Michiru, Blantyre, and Bvumbwe Dairy Cooperative.
In his remarks the Director of Planning and Development (DPD) for Blantyre District Assembly praised the leadership of Malawi in reinforcing its commitment to the economic empowerment of Malawi. In a special way he thanked the delegation from Zimbabwe for choosing Malawi as a first step toward implementing a similar development approach. He mentioned that, through the interaction, Malawi also learnt new ideas for improving OVOP activities.
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The 6th Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) Meeting.
13 Aug. 2008
The 6th JCC meeting was held on 13 August 2008 in the main conference room at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. The meeting was chaired by Mr K Kaphaizi, the Principal Secretary for Rural Development, and was widely attended by representatives from Bunda College of Agriculture, MARDEF, SEDOM, MEDI, DEMAT, MIRTDC, MEPC, JICA and related ministries.
The agenda of the meeting was to report on the progress of OVOP Programme activities for the period January to June 2008, such as new OVOP projects formulation for 2008/09, the OVOP loan scheme, OVOP group business performance and products marketing promotion. A report from JICA’s short-term expert on marketing strategy and revised supergoal for the JICA-OVOP Project Design Matrix was also presented.
The JCC is held every six months for monitoring of the institutional OVOP activities, which is funded by JICA.
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A Marketing Review Meeting.
6 Aug. 2008
A Marketing Review Meeting was conducted for active OVOP groups at Bunda College of Agriculture in Lilongwe.Sixteen active OVOP groups were invited for the review meeting. The aim of theMarketing Review meeting was to provide OVOP groups with an opportunity to learn from each other about what problems each group has faced and how the problems have been solved; to let OVOP groups understand that utmost efforts by both OVOP groups and OVOP Secretariat are needed for the successful operation of the Antenna shop and to discuss options for marketing structures of OVOP products after one year trial period of the Antenna Shop.
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Short Term Expert.
6 Jul.-18 Aug. 2008
OVOP Secretariat through JICA engaged a Short Term Expert (Mr. Shinichi Mori) on OVOP Marketing Strategy. The outcome of the assignment was to "Strengthen the Marketing System of the OVOP Programme in Malawi.
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OVOP Group Training (OGT)
21-22 Jul. 2008
OVOP Group Training (OGT) for Mitundu Agro Processing Group at Mitundu Teacher Development Centre . The training was on OVOP Concept understanding, Introduction to Improved Skills for Quality Control (QC) and Hygiene, Introduction to Development for New Product and Marketing Strategy and Sales Promotion of OVOP Products.
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National Consultative Workshop.
3-4 Jul. 2008
Commonwealth Secretariat and OVOP Secretariat conducted a National Consultative Workshop on the Development of Stretegic Options for the OVOP Secretariat in Malawi at Livingstonia Beach Hotel in Salima.
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