Local cooking oil production takes off
A young woman from the Kavango West region has called on people in the region to harvest more seeds from the mangetti tree so that they can be pressed to produce cooking oil.The seeds are bought by the by the the … from the villagers. Christa Hausiku (38) works at the cooking oil production plant, […] The post Local cooking oil production takes off appeared first on The Namibian.
Black News 
A young woman from the Kavango West region has called on people in the region to harvest more seeds from the mangetti tree so that they can be pressed to produce cooking oil.
The seeds are bought by the by the the … from the villagers.
Christa Hausiku (38) works at the cooking oil production plant, owned by professional borehole driller and agriculturalist, Winni Metzger at Kanyikama village in the Kavango West region.
“I want to encourage them to sell more Mangetti seeds, as this would help them get an income to support their families and their livelihoods,” Hausiku told The Namibian on Tuesday.
The facility produces cooking oil from both mangetti and sunflower seeds, but Hausiku said at the moment they are mainly producing cooking oil from Mangetti seeds, as sunflower seeds are in short supply. She said producing cooking oil is a good business, as there is always demand for the product, while the technology to produce it is very simple.
Hausiku said they are buying 1kg of mangetti seeds for N$9.
Mangetti is an indigenous tree and grows in abundance in the north-eastern parts of the country.
In recent years, the he Centre for Research, Information, Action in Africa Southern Africa – Development and Consulting has been conducting research on the Mangetti tree to see what more can be derived from its fruits and nuts, apart from oil.
Metzger is the private operator of the Musese green scheme. The cooking oil production at Kanyikama started on 17 January.
In February this year, the Executive Director in the Ministry of International Relations and Trade, Ndiitah Robiati, said the ministry supports Metzger’s initiative, as it will help contribute to the reduction of cooking oil imports.
The post Local cooking oil production takes off appeared first on The Namibian.
