Maungo Craft

In 2012 I began working for HRMC, a recruitment agency in Botswana. That same year, I began my degree at the University of South Africa. Working full-time, I Graduated Cum Laude from UNISA in 2016 with a BA in Communication Science.  

In 2017 I started Maungo Craft with my Co-Founder Olayemi Aganga and became its MD. We have since won 11 Awards. I won the national Fembiobiz Accelerator Programme Season 2 and the Regional Fembiobiz in 2018.

In 2019 I won the pan African Gogettaz Agri-preneurship Competition presented by Strive Masiyiwa. I represented Maungo Craft at the Xynteo Awards in 2019. That year I spoke at the African Union in Addis Abbaba on the importance of Orphan Crops to fight climate change. In 2019 I became a founding member of the Shetrades Botswana chapter. In 2020 I was appointed to the Generation Africa Steering Committee.

We work to reintegrate Orphan Crops back into our food system. 8 out Chad Frischmann’s Top 20 solutions to Climate Change deal with Food. Add land use, in relation to how we grow food and it becomes 12 of the top 20.

Reintegrating Orphan Crops into our food system is a partial solution. The great problem with Orphan Crops is that they have fallen out of popularity for hundreds of years. Skincare companies however use fruits like Morula for oil in cosmetics. It takes approximately 300 tonnes of Morula fruit to get 10 tonnes of oil.

Maungo Craft has won 11 awards for our Orphan Crop inspired preserves and sauce. We have been endorsed by Martha Stewart. Our project elevates humanity by creating interest and value chains that connect new industries. Our project can open up the untapped green economic potential of Botswana’s indigenous fruits.

The problem is the lack of integration of Orphan Crops in our food system. More than 95% of the global population’s food needs rely on fewer than 30 commercial plant species. Orphan crops are crops indigenous to a food system that have not been domesticated and commercialized. Botswana fails to utilize our orphan crops such as Mmilo, Morojwa and Morula. This is the story not only in Botswana but in many parts of Africa.

The factors contributing to the problem are poverty, climate change, and food insecurity. According to the African Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCC) “to diversify and stabilize the global food supply, enhance agricultural productivity, and tackle malnutrition, greater use of neglected or underutilized local plants (so-called orphan crops…) could be a partial solution to Climate Change”.

Increasing interest in Indigenous fruits in the food system is at the core of resolving these issues. According to Post-Doctoral Research Fellows Ehtel Phiri and Palesa Mothapo “…people have lost interest in the use of indigenous crops for food and prefer the more costly commercial crops, despite high rates of poverty”. Maungo Craft can be a key link in a new value chain. 

Morula oil is a cosmetic seed oil that has 50% more antioxidants than Argan oil. The Body Shop uses Morula oil in shower cream, lipstick and other cosmetic products.

It takes 300 tonnes of Morula fruit pulp to get to 12 tonnes of Morula oil. There is no major user of the fruit in Botswana. This leads to a lot of fruit waste. This is where Maungo Craft comes in.

Maungo Craft is a gourmet food company. We make jams, marmalade and sauce using Orphan Crops or indigenous fruits.  Maungo Craft is the only company making the fruit preserve blends and sauce that we do anywhere in the world. For example, our Roasted Garlic, peppers and Morula hot sauce is a one of a kind anywhere right now.

Maungo Craft make preserves and chilli sauce with the morula fruit that typically goes to waste! We have formed symbiotic relationships with local morula cosmetic companies. When they press the oil, we use the fruit that typically goes to waste. We fuel the growth of two industries at the same time! Allowing for the reintegration of Orphan Crops into our food system.

https://youtu.be/xyOHY36T-aE

Maungo Craft sells our products in urban areas but our project serves the rural. We work with seed oil companies in Gabane and the Tswapong Region. We also work with DLG and Blue Pride on the ground. Through these networks members of the community harvest during Morula season. The collection of the pulp is a communal activity that has the blessing of local authorities.  

I often joke that “I am just a girl from Bobonong”. Bobonong is part of  Tswapong and I personally want to see positive development there. Batswana rely heavily on subsistence farming all while arable lands are dwindling. Batswana deserve the dignity of work that combats the effects of climate change. The problem is that jobs in rural areas are scarce.

My partner Olayemi Aganga is the Secretary of the NPAB (the Natural Products Association of Botswana). We engage with all parties in the natural and indigenous sector. This informs our understanding for the industry to grow we need to expand our processing ability. We are working on plans for a processing centre for indigenous fruits. In the future, this will allow for greater community harvesting, job creation and financial opportunities.

Our project relates to the first two dimensions of the Elevate prize: elevating issues by building awareness and elevating opportunities, especially communities traditionally left behind. 

Addressing the reintegration of Orphan Crops in the food system is a partial solution to tackling the issue of Climate Change, poverty and food insecurity. This elevates an issue while creating opportunities for those traditionally left behind.

Climate change has a large cultural and food component to it. The Community we serve in Botswana is grossly impacted by climate change. It is also representative of other such communities in Africa.

It was Morula Season, around February 2017 in Botswana. Morula is an indigenous fruit in Africa that is abundant in Botswana. The fruit was falling everywhere. My partner Olayemi Aganga saw it being swept out of yards, attracting snakes, damaging car windshields. While many of his neighbours saw a nuisance, my partner, we saw a great opportunity.

He approached me with a sample of a new type of low sugar Morula Jam. He had put it a recycled ‘Purity’baby food bottle. He was very proud of himself though and could not stop talking about the wasted Morula fruit. Like any good friend would do, I decided that I would support my friend by buying one of his jams.

The moment I tasted it however I was blown away. I instantly sat him down and told him “Let’s talk business”and Maungo Craft was born. We decided to make low sugar preserves with the morula fruit that typically goes to waste!We are now expanding our product range.

I am a proud Motswana woman. I am an African. Botswana is beautiful. Botswana is my home. However, Botswana imports approximately 90% of her food. We are a country that is diamond resource rich but badly in need of economic diversification.

In the rural areas Batswana are suffering from the effects of climate change. I fear a catastrophe in my country. I fear further that Botswana is not unique in this regard. In Africa it is affecting the arable land of nations that are often single resource extractors and exporters. 

Stability can come through the reintegration of orphan crops in our food system. I believe that Maungo Craft can be a model. We have fought hard to re-popularize these fruits since 2017. We started cooking jam from our houses in 2017 and created ripples large enough to reach Martha Stewart and Strive Masiyiwa with these issues.

For us “We put our Culture in a bottle” is more than a slogan. It is a mantra. As Bob Marley once sang, “In this great future you can’t forget your past…” Crop diversity fighting the effects of climate change? What could be cooler than that?  

I come from an entrepreneurial family. My parents owned a retail franchise Lucky 7 in Lobatse that often won best retail shop in the country. My brother is also an entrepreneur in the food business. He established an extraordinary local food brand named called The Braai Place.

My background has made me a driven person. I paid for my own tuition to get my BA Degree in Communication Science. I earned money by working at HRMC doing psychometric assessments, recruitment, development and costumer service. I did online jobs. I worked full-time while schooling and still managed to graduate Cum Laude.

My work experience gave me a keen understanding of marketing, the dynamics of teams and team building. My work experience gave me a keen understanding of the importance of costumer service and experience.

My Partner Olayemi Aganga, is Secretary of the NPAB, an attorney with a Masters in Intellectual Property Law. I have great in house legal advise, especially on Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and other IP issues.

Further being the Managing Director of Maungo Craft has led also to great relevant opportunities that have broadened my horizons.  I attended Stanford Go to Market Training Programme in 2018.  In 2019 I became a Mandela Washington Fellow which lead to business training at University of Texas (McCombs School of Business).  In 2020 I was appointed to the Generation Africa Steering Committee. This gives me the opportunity to advocate for Orphan Crops on a continental scale.

At Maungo Craft we like to say that we “liberated” a pot from my partner’s father’s house. In order to scale we needed funding and a facility to cook in. We had neither.

We took on part time jobs, hardly slept and worked day and night. We approached the only local incubator in our country, LEA, but for two years they did not have space for us.

We pushed on and grew in reputation. This growth led to us becoming the first company from Botswana to attend the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York and getting our product to Martha Stewart. However we were not able to move out from our house. So we approached a local factory owner to rent his space.

He agreed but soon found that he would have to sell his factory. That same day we approached a copacker in South Africa. We still wanted to have an impact in Botswana. We approached LEA again and this time they had space. For capital, we entered into the Pan African Competition Gogettaz. I managed to make it on to the Stage in Ghana and won $50,000. We used this operating capital to kick start our dreams. 

In January 2020 we began hearing about the Corona Virus on the news. Our business strategy had been focused on the hospitality industry which began to close down towards the end of February 2020. In March 2020 Botswana went into lockdown.

While under lockdown at home my partner and I began researching on the Corona Virus. On March 11, 2020, the WHO designated Covid-19 a global pandemic. According to the CDC Between 21% and 31% of Covid-19 patients in the U.S. have required hospitalization, and 5% to 11% have required intensive care. In China, 12%  of patients required ventilation.

. 

Botswana, with a population of 2 million people only had 100 ventilators. We were shocked to find that some African nations only had 3 ventilators. Having a background in team building I reached into my networks to create a team with experience as engineers and business people that can tackle the issue. We found MIT’s open source design, got a doctor on board as a consultant and 3 Legged Design was born. We are presently working on a prototype to help the community, we in talks with GIZ regarding funding and with TU Delft Univeristy for technical Support.

It takes approximately 300 tonnes of Morula fruit to get to 10 tonnes of oil. There are no large scale users of the fruit in Botswana. The oil industry can not grow and there is no indigenous food industry.

We plug into the value chain for seed oil producers. They take the oil and we keep the fruit. This allows for the growth of two industries. It also makes us a very unique brand with a very innovative product range. We are a brand focused on the reintegration of orphan crops into the food system. We are one the 1st food brands in Botswana to have this explicitly as its ethos.

While companies typically make similar products and compete, like a lemon and Herb hot sauce, we make gourmet products that are different from everyone else.

Another brand may have a product that uses orphan crops, our brand is built around the use of orphan crops making products that are handcrafted. We use Orphan Crops in inventive ways and create unique flavor profiles. We make one of a kind products whilst fueling the growth of 2 industries.

We are a brand that uses only natural ingredients and are a low to no sugar brand. While most jam preserves for example are typically 50% - 70%% sugar, ours are 40% or so. There are not many brands like ours around the continent currently and we have also won 11 awards and are endorsed by Martha Stewart. 

According to Post-Doctoral Research Fellows Ehtel Phiri and Palesa Mothapo “…people have lost interest in the use of indigenous crops for food…, despite high rates of poverty”

Our theory of Change is that popularizing the fruit can mitigate the effects of climate change and promote growth. In the short term, it will reduce food waste of Morula which falls every season. This allows for job creation in rural areas. It will lead to the growth of two industries at once in Botswana: skincare and food.

In the medium term it will lead to greater popularity of indigenous fruits such as morula and local market uptake. Establishing the Orphan Crop Processing plant, combined with the expansion of Maungo Craft and the distribution network of Sefalana will take Orphan crops out of the informal trade sector and into commercial retail.

More mass and masstige products can then be created using the fruit as their would be greater local uptake. This is similar to the growth trajectory of Chocolate which was a niche product first. So for example in Botswana, the government has a policy of purchasing a percentage of goods that are created in Special Economic Zones (SEZA). Morula has 4 - 8 times the vitamin C of oranges. An immune boosting, low sugar fruit drink would be possible for schools in the medium term.

In the long term Morula, because of its fruit and nut, has been described as a “tuck shop on a trunk”. The seed will be used to create cosmetic oil. Morula leaves and skin will be used to create a nutrient dense organic fertilizer. This can create manufacturing jobs and organic fertilizer for arable land. According to Professors the seed cake can also be used to manufacture a protein rich animal feed for livestock.

By 2050 we shall use Morula seed cake to manufacture biochar for the purification of water. We shall practice inter-cropping, planting Morula in millet and watermelon fields to nourish the fields in Tswapong and improve soil quality. All of this begins with eliminating fruit waste and popularizing the fruit now.

Maungo Craft employs four people. We will be adding three more to our team over the next three months. We work with seed oil companies on the ground in two locations: In the Tswapong Region and in Gabane. Each employees a harvesting network of between 20 to 50 people depending on the season.

We work with a host of subsidiary businesses who provide services from drivers to printer services. As such over the scope of a year we will be directly impacting and serving a network of roughly 100 people. With 70 of those people being in rural areas.

In one year this impact is unlikely to drastically increase. However over the course of five years jobs in processing the fruit and more jobs in harvesting would become necessary if we were to establish a processing centre.

It is our estimate that over the course of five years with the establishment of a processing centre we can directly serve 500 to 1500 people. These are parties who would be involved either in seasonal harvesting jobs or permanently employed in either processing Orphan Crops.

Both Gabane and the Tswapong region presently have huge issues with unemployment. Gabane has a population of nearly 15,000. Tswapong has 16 main villages. The population from village to village varies in size with the average size of a village being roughly 800. Sefhare, the royal capital has a population of around 3000 people. Lerala is one of the largest villages in Tswapong with nearly 8000 inhabitants. 

Pre COVID 19 we had a strategy of entering into the hospitality industry. This plan meant selling to hotels and setting up stands in the hotels so that once their customers tasted our products, they would buy our products.

We pivoted and plan on expanding our gifting, retail footprint and into eCommerce. Over the course of the next year we are set to get into retail stores across the country, the region and to an extent export into the United States. All of our products are vegan formulated so we shall be marketing to this group.

Further we will be looking to get our products to be used as ingredients in other products. For example as ingredients in gourmet chocolates. This is especially as the gourmet chocolate market is always open to points of differentiation and is somewhat resiliant to recessions.

Over the next 5 years we are looking to expand our exports further into the United States, to across the African continent, and potentially Europe. We will also be looking to expand our product range. We have more new, first of a kind and exciting products that we have developed and will be looking to launch during this time.

In this space we will be looking to establish a processing centre in the country for orphan crops to allow for such expansion. We will further be looking to establish wider distribution channels and take a advantage of economies of scale.

Corona Virus-The barriers that exist to us accomplishing our goal in the next year start with the Corona virus. The virus has disrupted supply chains and supply lines. We anticipate this will be an issue for the next year but it is our hope that it will not be an issue for the next five years.

Seasonal Morula- This is a problem that we already faced in terms of the morula fruit as they are seasonal fruit.This will likely to continue to be a barrier over the course of the next two to five years.

Funding- Like many food businesses we have issues regarding the cost of entry into the food business. We have received some degree of prize and grant funding but we still have limitations in capacity. Our estimate was that we would need $400,000 to operate however we are working on a budget of $130,000. This will possibly be an issue and will be an issue potentially for 1 to 5 years to come.

Distribution- There is also an issue of distribution and access to market. These are barriers that are likely to be issues over the course of the next year and potentially the next five years as well.

Marketing- Making novel products as a first mover means that we will need to educate the market. This is an expense and barrier that is likely to exist for five years.

Corona virus- The virus has disrupted supply chains and supply lines. We have worked towards overcoming this issue by scaling operations and purchasing some inputs in bulk. Where possible we are also working with local suppliers into order to strengthen supply chains.

Morula fruit- This is seasonal fruit. As Morula is a seasonal fruit it meant that we had to plan at the beginning of the year in order to produce for the rest of the year. We freeze the fruit and currently have a sizeable stockpile of frozen fruit. Harvesting can occur with social distancing and the use of PPE in mind.

Financial issues- These issues persist for all businesses but the food business has many upfront costs. We do keep our eye out for funding opportunities in order to counter this particular issue.

Distribution- We will work with our partners to gain greater market access and find relevant distribution partners.

Marketing- We are working on creative marketing approaches in order to grab the imagination of the public. For example we have an animated campaign that we have started in Botswana that includes the need to incorporate orphan crops back into our food system. That video will be launched within the month. Ultimately the taste and quality of the products is what will bring people back for more.

Sefalana is our regional distribution partner. We are looking to expand with them in 2020. They have distribution linkages throughout Southern Africa’s hospitality industry as well as retail reach. This will enable us to scale our brand in Southern Africa.

The Ministry of Trade and Investment (MITI) has shown policy support with the revised Botswana’s National Export Strategy 2019-2024 prioritizing indigenous products. BITC is MITI’s policy execution arm seeking out trade opportunities. The Local Enterprise Authority (LEA), a sub-sect under MITI in Botswana, as of 2019, incubated Maungo Craft and is providing mentorship.

Stanford Business School has provided us with business training and Mentorship. This came in the form of the Stanford Go-to-Market class in 2018. USAid through South African Trade Hub provides support through various means. USAid through South African Trade Hub work on capacity building. They are assisting us with Fair Trade Certification along side BITC. They have worked to create linkages us to potential partners, provide mentorship, and seek out opportunities for us. USAid through South African Trade Hub also provides support in the form of trade shows and marketing opportunities for member companies.

GIZ are a grant partner of Maungo Craft and are providing grant funding and guidance to the Company as of 2020. Gen Africa have provided granted funding, marketing and mentorship opportunities. They are also giving us a platform to expand the reach of our message and brand. This is the same for USAid through the Mandela Washington Fellowship.

Our products are low to now sugar preserves and sauce. Our products are multi-award winning and use orphan crops at their centre. Our products are often healthier alternatives. For example Morula has 4 to 8 times the vitamin C of oranges. As such our clients get a unique and amazing tasting experience that puts our culture in a bottle everytime they purchase Maungo Craft.

Our business model pre covid 19 was mainly hospitality. We would sell our products to hotels and lodges. We would then set up booths for their customers who have tasted our products to purchase them. The Corona Virus has had a massive effect on the tourism sector.

We have since pivoted into retail, gifting and into e-commerce.We have formulated our products for the vegan friendly market and shall market to this community as one of our core communities. We will continue with hospitality when tourism comes back however we are not factoring that as much into our model for growth over the next year to two years.

We are also looking to have our products be ingredients for gourmet chocolates and bakeries. We are also looking to export our products both regionally and internationally.

Through generating this revenue we will be creating decent paying jobs downstream in rural areas in Botswana. We are firm believers in fair trade and will be looking to engage in access to benefit sharing commitments. 

We have been raising funding so far through a combination of grant and prize funding. We have raised the following: Through winning the GoGettaz Pan African competition we won $50,000. Through becoming a Mandela Washington Fellow I became applicable for the Mandela Washington Fellow Grant. I applied for the Grant and was the only party to be awarded the full $50,000 in Southern Africa for the Grant. My partner Olayemi Aganga applied for the GIZ grant and we are in the final stages of getting the grant which will be worth $30,000.

Outside of these forms of funding now that we are entering into operation we are looking to fund our business through sales. We have spoken to our distribution partner Sefalana and are finalizing our listing with them. We have also engaged with other retail outlets across Botswana. As such we are looking to expand our wings and grow into retail. We will also be looking to grow in the gifting space as well as export. 

Gogettaz- Last year we won the Gogettaz pan African Agripreneur prize. This prize was worth $50,000.

MWF- Mandela Wahsington Fellow. Last year we were selected for the Mandela Washington Fellow Grant. This grant was worth $50,000.

GIZ- Last year we were selected for the GIZ grant. We are finalizing the process for this grant now and have completed the due diligence. This grant is worth $30,000.

We are looking to raise $400,000 dollars. We are not interested in loans or debt but are looking for either grant or prize funding.

We have already raised $130,000 in total with $107,000 coming this year. This will largely be used on purchasing equipment.

We believe that the $400,000 can accomplish several other things. The first purpose of the money is to establish marketing for Maungo Craft. We need to be able to reach our utaku people. We need to be able to educate the market as we are first movers.

The second purpose of the funding is to establish a processing centre. Our estimates are that to process all the different aspects of the fruit will cost potentially $1,5 million dollars. However while we do not expect to raise all of this money if we were able to raise a portion of it we can set up a processing centre that processes oil and fruit for potentially $300,000. 

Further raising a portion of the funding would also give us the ability to seek out a joint venture for the rest of the activity of creating a wholistic Orphan Crop value chain. 

https://drive.google.com/file/...As we lacked financing and a place to set up our factory we have not been able to operate at any scale until now.

As such 2020 has many set up costs. Our estimated expenses for 2020 are roughly $107,000. These expenses include equipment, marketing expenses and IP registration expenses.

In terms of equipment we have to purchase Computers, dehydrators, bottle labeling machine, sterilizing machine, a heated holding tank, evaporative cooler, fourty foot container, batch coding machine, kitchen hood.

We have managed and will be managing to pay for this through a combination of grant and prize funding. We have attached our budget to this application.  

We are applying to Elevate for the following areas: distribution, marketing and financing.

Distribution- The Elevate Prize is a massive platform. This is because of the network that elevate posses. We believe that the elevate network will stand Maungo Craft apart and allow us to forge partnerships such as in distribution with parties such as Amazon or Wholefoods that can be beneficial to our brand and for our cause.

Marketing- The Elevate Platform is one for outstanding individuals. But it is also one that is aimed at shinning an example for a cause. We believe that the cause of reintegrating Orphan Crops back into the food system is one that can be an example for all of Botswana and Africa. The Platform that Elevate has will be like an alarm bell all across the continent we believe and also all across the world. Many people are unaware of the role that food plays in climate change and Elevate has the platform to help us in this education process.

Financing- Elevate’s commitment to $300,000 with the potential of more funding allows for Maungo Craft to be funded in the short term but to also put down a deposit towards our medium term goal of a processing centre. This allows for Maungo Craft to either move forward with the project or be able to seek out a Joint Venture. We hope that this may even be possible through Elevate’s network. 

We are looking to establish effective distribution networks into the United States and across Africa.

We are looking to establish effective marketing campaigns that reach our Utaku people. We want campaigns that can educate and convert parties into Maungo Craft buyers.

We are looking for funding that will allow us to scale and grow our business. That would allow for us to be able to either have part of the funding or the whole funding that establishes a processing centre. We are open to part of the funding as this would allow for us to seek a joint venture for the rest of the funding with greater leaverage in finding the right partner.

In terms of organizations that we would want to partner with distribution is key, Amazon is one such partner. We want to go online but we are also interested in Wholefoods. We have interest in QVC as a partner as well for the reach of their network.

Red Oak is a good partner for various services it can provide in entering the American market. We are currently in talks with Red Oak but we are unsure as to how far this conversation than go on our own. Elevate can be key for us in this conversation and negotiation. Elevate for its marketing and platform.

Access into the African continent is also one of the goals. We have a distribution partner in Sefelana for parts of Southern Africa. However when it comes to markets like Nigeria, Ghana and Ethiopia we would want a distribution partner for these key markets.

Chicexecs is a specific PR company we are interested in working with. They are a great partner for that. We are also looking to partner with UPS for further distribution. We would also want to work with a gifting partner.