Sweet success

Prucheria Mwanyangapo is one of the many entrepreneurs who heeded government’s call not to expect work or freebies to be dished out to them, but to create self-employment.
Mwanyangapo is the mind behind the family-owned Mwetumona Multi Business CC which first opened its doors in 2009. The business produces Marula jam.
According to Mwanyangapo, she first heard about Marula jam on the radio and decided to try it out.
However, it hasn’t been an easy journey for her and after failing several times, she finally made a success of it. When Mwanyangapo first started, she said that she could only make about 18 jars of jam, but today, with the assistance of her two employees, she makes a total of 50 jars per day.
The jam is made of the Marula fruit, which Mwanyangapo picks from her farm and other nearby places. She says that she does not spend much on production costs because she grows the Marula trees herself, the only expense for production is firewood, sugar and the plastic containers which she purchases from Plastic Packaging.
Mwanyangapo added that she would like to buy a bigger jam making machine but such machinery is often very expensive and costs more than N$ 1 million.
She says such a machine would enable her to produce at a large scale and export the wholly-Namibian made jam.
The uniquely flavoured jam is checked by the Namibia Standards Institution (NSI) for quality and nutritional value.
Mwanyangapo, says that although she does not sell her produce in retail shops, she has loyal customers whom she say are from Ongwediva, Oshakati, Okaleke and Ombalantu.
She says she is never left with a surplus as the jam is very popular. According to Mwanyangapo, business is doing very well.
The jam comes in four different flavours including lemon, vanilla, pineapple and the original Marula flavour. It is bottled in 500ml containers which sells for N$15 each.
When asked what she would like to tell other SME’s and the youth out there, Mwanyangapo said: “ Use your talent, bring your talent to the table, show people what you are capable of and don’t hide it, everyone has their own unique talent. Your just have to discover it.”