Peanut Butter Profits: Building an Enterprise
For several years, Give Us Wings has been partnering with the Kayoro Osukuru Multipurpose Co-op Society (better known as KOMCOS!) to help them form a cooperative and get training in business and finance. Among their initiatives, KOMCOS has been especially successful in growing groundnuts (similar to peanuts here in the U.S.) and they came to us with a business plan to capitalize on that crop. They wanted to add value to their harvests by selling various products made with groundnuts, rather than just the nuts in their basic form. They identified a demand for items such as shelled nuts, oil, paste (like peanut butter), and flour. Our staff in Uganda reported that the co-op would receive 2-3 times the income for the same amount of groundnuts once they are made into these products.
After a good deal of fundraising and a generous grant from Tomberg Family Philanthropies, we’re happy to announce that Give Us Wings has purchased three pieces of machinery for KOMCOS:
A sheller which separates the nuts from the shells at a rate of 500 kgs per hour
A paster which mashes the nuts into a smooth paste after roasting
A grinder which grinds raw nuts into a fine flour used for many applications
Once the machines are delivered, Give Us Wings will provide the support needed to get the business off the ground. This will include training on the machines' care and use, education on best practices for packaging various groundnut products, and exploring marketing and sales opportunities for those products. We will work to identify additional markets and make connections to various agricultural shows where they can show their wares. We also expect that the co-op can pick up extra income by "renting out" their processing services to non-members who are also growing groundnuts.
As KOMCOS works hard to grow a sustainable business and earn more household income, we are excited to see the results of these investments. Stay tuned for updates on this project and many other Economic Development efforts!