Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Matabeleland South Bureau Chief
MOST people think “alcohol” when they see a marula tree, but Bulilima villagers see a conifer that helps them escape poverty.
For members of Vusanani Co-operative from the Natane area in Bulilima, a marula tree is the answer to the equation as they use it to manufacture cooking oil, jam, butter, syrup, skin foundation, and livestock feed.
So magical are the nuts of the marula tree, they have seen the co-operative founding a lucrative pen fattening project which they have been running for the past eight years now.
After a good sale, the co-operative which has 10 members can realise a profit of up to R25 000 after selling 10 beasts.
Under the project, they buy cattle that are in poor condition from surrounding villages and then feed them for about two to three months, depending on the condition of the animals.
They then sell them to local businesspeople.
Vusanani Co-operative, which was established in 2010, is also operating a marula processing and poultry project.
The chairperson of Vusanani Co-operative, Mrs Judith Ncube said they decided to start the pen fattening project in a bid to boost their revenues. She said they fatten about 60 cattle in a year.
“We started the pen fattening project in 2014. Initially we were operating a marula processing project, but then we realised that we had to expand in order to increase our income. Marula fruits are also seasonal, meaning that there is a time when we won’t be producing any marula products,” she said.
Mrs Ncube added: “In a year we can sell about 60 beasts. We buy the animals while they are in a poor condition from neighbouring villages and then we feed them until they are ready for the market. We have a pen-fattened kraal that we established as a cooperative.”
She said they buy commercial feed from the shops.
Mrs Ncube said they also supply the beasts with organic feed such as hay and marula fruit skin. She said they usually buy a beast at R2 000 or R3 000 and sell it for R5 000.
Mrs Ncube said their group started off with women only but they now had one male member.
Ms Pritchard Sibanda, who is also a member of Vusanani Co-operative, said they received training on how to run the pen fattening project from agriculture experts. They have been trained on how to care for their livestock through use of chemicals and proper diets.
Ms Sibanda said when they buy animals from neighbouring villages, they hire youths who drive the animals on foot to their village. Buyers usually come to collect the animals when they are ready.
“We noticed a business opportunity after we realised that some people allow their animals to lose value and then sell them at a giveaway price. We decided to then come up with a solution while at the same time utilising a business opportunity,” Ms Sibanda said.
She said they have also recently introduced new marula products which include marula chicken feed and marula goat feed.
Ms Sibanda said while they continue to introduce more projects, they ensure that they do not neglect their marula processing project.
“When we started off as a group in 2010, we were just producing marula oil which we extract from marula nuts. We then moved on to marula jam, marula nuts and marula butter. Recently we have added marula booster, marula syrup, marula foundation, marula chicken feed and marula livestock feed,” she said.
Ms Sibanda said it was their desire to continue identifying new products which they can make out of marula fruits. They are also coming up with strategies to improve their existing products.
“Introducing a variety of products and improving the standard of our products has helped to improve our income. We have also introduced a poultry project where we have 50 birds. These projects have helped us to fend for our families. We have been empowered as a group.
“We were educated on the need to utilise our natural resources in our area in order to raise income. That is why we started off by processing marula products and now we are using these marula products to feed our livestock that we are selling,” she said. — @DubeMatutu
derick.khumalo
Online Reporter