Still earning peanuts from raw groundnuts? We make butter

Walking with crutches in Bombolulu, Mombasa, Charity Chahasi and Lucy Chesi show resilience and determination.

The two are some of the members of Tunaweza Women with Disability Community Based Organisation, which has overcome all odds to make peanut butter that they sell under the name Onja Tamu.

Chahasi recounts that they started the 100-member group in 2000 to boost their livelihoods.

“It was hard for us to integrate in groups of able-bodied women, so this made us to form our own and try to come up with a business that suited us, which we funded from members’ contributions. We expanded to peanut butter production in 2016,” says Chahasi, the project coordinator.

They run the peanut project from a Sh2,500 rental facility near Ziwa la Ng’ombe Primary School.

Inside the shop, there is a peanut butter machine that makes 2kg of the product in 15 minutes, sacks of raw peanuts that they source from western and other gadgets used in the trade.

“The Ministry of Agriculture donated to us the Sh60,000 machine but we have added another this year that we bought at Sh90,000 from a manufacturer in Kisumu and it produces 4kg of butter in a few minutes,” Chahasi tells Seeds of Gold.

The group went into the trade after several trainings on value addition by officials from Mombasa County government.

The process starts with buying the nuts from western Kenya at an average of Sh12,000 per 90kg bag. Chesi explains that they sort the nuts to remove dirt like sand and rotten seeds.

“We then shell and clean them. Later, we put into the machine, grind and heat for 15 minutes at 170oC. The warm paste is put in bottles to cool and sealed later ready for sale.”

WIDELY CONSUMED

During Seeds of Gold visit, Mary Masakwe, who is deaf, was on duty at the premises. Donning a light blue overcoat, she keenly put the nuts inside the machine to be ground into a paste.

“We make natural peanut butter products because we don’t put any additives in them, only water, sugar and salt,” says Masakwe through an assistant. Once packed, the peanut is kept in a dry, cool place. Chesi says peanut butter helps in curbing high blood pressure, heart diseases, stroke and diabetes.

Further, it has fibre that is good for bowel health, fats and magnesium to fortify bones. It is good for those that go for work outs in gyms.

“Our products are certified by the Kenya Bureau of Standards, whose officials visited our offices and did a hygiene assessment,” she says.

According to Chahasi, they got the certification in 2017.

“That certificate was the best thing to happen to us because we have managed to supply our products to supermarkets that include Beach Market at Nyali and Jambo Mart,” says Chahasi, adding they sell their products in 100, 200 and 500g and a kilo packs which go for between Sh100 and Sh650.

Other markets that Tunaweza targets include exhibitions such as the Mombasa International Agricultural Show. During the August show, they made sales worth Sh85,000.

The group works with a volunteer accountant, who takes care of their bookkeeping and another one that advises them on branding and marketing.

Mombasa County deputy director research, extension, liaison and agriculture Daniel Mimunya, says by adding valued to peanuts, Tunaweza has made the produce widely consumed and offered market to growers.

The future looks brighter for the group as the county has allocated Sh20 million to construct a value addition centre at Utange to support several enterprises, among them Tunaweza.