“We shouldn’t even be importing the cooking oil.”
TRYNESS MBALE – Petauke
ZAMBIA has the capacity to be self-sufficient in edible oil production due to availability of raw materials, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Robert Sichinga says.
Meanwhile, a 25-year-old beneficiary of the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) fund, Naomi Phiri of Petauke, is producing 1,500 litres of cooking oil per day from groundnuts and sunflower.
Mr Sichinga said in an interview in Petauke after flagging off the groundnuts value chain projects that with the massive capacity to produce edible oil locally, the country should not be importing the commodity.
“We shouldn’t even be importing the cooking oil because we have the capacity to produce on our own.We have all the raw materials like sunflower, groundnuts and soya beans – all that is required is good strategies…This is why I am here, to try and take stocks,” he said.
He urged more locals to go into cooking oil production because of Zambia’s abundant raw materials and ready market.
proprietor of Nandi Electrical, Ms Phiri, who employs 14 locals, said she produces 1,500 litres of cooking oil per day and sells about 1,000 litres per day.
She also makes peanut butter and groundnut meal.
In March, Ms Phiri acquired a K300,000 loan from CEEC to venture into her business and rakes in a net profit of about K30,000 per month.
Zambia consumes around 90,000 tonnes of cooking oil per year but only produces around 25,000 from soyabeans, with the shortfall having to be imported, according to industry data.