Itabwa Investments Limited, a commercial entity of the Kaputa Royal Establishment, emerged as one of the successful recipients of an US$86,000 grant following the call for concept notes by Musika, under a challenge fund competition on “Stimulating agricultural market opportunities for women farmers in rural areas of Zambia”.
Musika’s grant support will assist Itabwa Investments Limited to establish a cassava processing plant in Kasama district to produce high quality cassava flour. To do this, the company will develop a smallholder supply chain for cassava with an initial 250 to 350 women smallholders in the Northern region, particularly in Kasama, Kaputa and surrounding districts such as Nsama, Mporokoso and Luwingu.
More specifically, the grant will provide for the procurement of a cassava mill which includes a packaging unit to be installed in Kasama district; a 30 tonne truck to transport the cassava from the farmers and to offtakers of the flour; two motorbikes for mobility of the extension staff; training and marketing activities.
Additionally, Itabwa Investments Limited will ensure that the women farmers are equipped with information on agricultural practices, facilitate access to improved cassava varieties that have a shorter gestation period and is resistant to common diseases, and support them with mechanised services both tillage and haulage to lessen the burden of back breaking manual labour.
“While the public sector has achieved significant development impacts on incubating gender policies and programs in the agriculture sector, a public sector-led approach alone cannot effectively empower women. So there is need for the private sector to play a complementary role in providing goods and services to remote areas, using gender inclusive business models,” Musika Managing Director, Reuben Banda observed.
With Musika support, Itabwa Investments Limited has established itself as a key player in the cassava value chain – as an aggregator since 2018 – after it was linked to Musika’s partners; Zambian Breweries and Zhongkai Investments who are the major offtakers of cassava.
Over 2,000 smallholders, 54% of whom are women, are currently benefitting from more than 12 established service and buying points.
“We remain committed to supporting the growth of local enterprises that are willing to co-invest in development initiatives that uplift the livelihoods of the rural poor. The fact that Itabwa is a firm under the charge of His Royal Highness Chief Kaputa also demonstrates the need for traditional leaders to actively seek out opportunities that will lift their subjects out of poverty,” said Banda.
And Itabwa board chairperson, His Royal Highness Chief Kaputa said the achievements scored by the company in the past, such as expanding the network of its outgrower schemes into two new districts have helped transform the entire cassava value chain and impacted many farmers.
“The investment we are witnessing today will further impact more farmers. It will help create 50 direct jobs at the bulking center and processing plant. 6, 500 indirect jobs will also be created from the outgrower schemes. We further envisage that at least 25, 000 people will be positively impacted by the project,” he said, adding that over 60 per cent of the cassava processed at the plant will be sourced exclusively from women farmers that the firm will incorporate under its cassava outgrower scheme.
One of Musika’s core objectives is that women farmers actively participate in and benefit from improved agricultural market opportunities. To this end, Musika aims to actively stimulate and support a diversity of commercial investments in agricultural products and market services that are targeted at, or include a high proportion of women smallholder farmers.
Ends.
About Musika
Musika is a Zambian non-profit company which started its operations in 2011 and currently receives funding support from the Swedish Embassy in Lusaka, Norwegian Government’s NORAD, Irish Aid and WorldFish to stimulate and support private investment in the agricultural market, with a particular focus on the smallholder and emerging farmer sectors.
Musika works across the country and in all aspects of the agricultural sector, providing advisory services and business support to agribusinesses that are committed to engaging smallholder and emergent farmers in strong and mutually beneficial commercial relationships as their clients, suppliers and customers. It’s approach to reducing poverty and creating wealth in rural Zambia involves stimulating business relationships between the corporate sector and smallholder farmers that provide not just market opportunities but also the knowledge and confidence for farmers to invest in and grow their businesses.
