Africa-Press – Namibia. A 32-year-old Kavango West youth, Ester Wayiva Haita, who has set up her own business that produces a range of mutete and nongongo (manketti) extracted products, is seeking equipment support.
Haita wants to expand her business.
She trades under her brand, ‘Nzimbu Organic Products.’
Buyers can also link up with the Nzimbu online shop on Facebook.
Nongongo kernels and mutete, scientifically known as Hibiscus sabdariffa (also known as Roselle), are the raw materials that Haita uses in manufacturing her products.
She narrated that her business has picked up momentum, but meeting the demand is a challenge, as she does her produce manually by hand.
“I’m from Mayara village in the Nkurenkuru area. I have a business registered under the name Nzimbu Investments CC. I produce a range of products, including Mutete Juice, Mutete Jam and Mutete Tea. We also produce cooking oil from Nongongo and Nongongo hair & skin oil. From nongongo, we also produce soup and chicken feed. I also make jam from tomatoes,” she said while participating in the just-ended Nkurenkuru Expo.
Haita started her business in 2018, after receiving training from one of the University of Namibia’s agriculture campuses, Neudam, outside Windhoek.
There, she learned how to produce jam, yoghurt and juice from Maguni, also known as monkey orange or Kavango orange.
“I also got taught how to make juice from mutete; since then, in 2019, I didn’t sell anything, as I was not really involved, but towards the end of 2019, I started, and in 2020, I produced more products that I took to Windhoek to sell at Olafika Expo, which was held at Jetu Yama Namcol Centre and when I saw that my products were selling fast, I saw the potential,” she said.
In 2021, I started with the production of oil from nongongo and decided to put it on the market. Later, I was advised to produce a variety of products. I really don’t struggle with getting the market, but my challenge, however, is the equipment, because I do things with my bare hands, and production is slow, so even if I get a market, production will not meet the demands. Having proper equipment will boost my business. Now, my products are in Kavango OK Foods in Rundu and Kavango supermarket in Nkurenkuru and some mini markets around the two towns,” she narrated.
Haita wants to sell her produce to the Agro-Marketing and Trade Agency, but the number of stocks they requested from her is high.
“It is taking me long to produce, but I’m busy working on it, and I asked for more time because we do not have machines to produce more at a fast pace. That is the major challenge, because the manual process is long and cumbersome, but it will be easier and faster if we have machinery or equipment; it will be very easy,” she said.
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