Peanut butter plays a key part in the Zimbabwean diet – as an infant food, a high protein addition to traditional stews and, among urban communities, a spread for bread. Many rural families earn a living from informal sales of peanut butter, but the traditional stone grinding process is labour-intensive, with low productivity and poor hygiene. Sales return meagre profits.

Opportunities to expand do exist, if producers can penetrate the lucrative retail market. But smaller, rural processors are put off by the stringent quality and hygiene standards they must reach first.

To explore ways of meeting these standards, the Development Technology Centre (University of Zimbabwe) set up a pilot initiative in the late 1990s with funding from DFID’s Crop Post Harvest Research Programme.

Working in partnership with the Farmers’ Development Trust and local manufacturers, DTC developed a mechanical grinder to replace stone-grinding. A metering device has been incorporated to regulate the rate that nuts are fed into the grinder, so that a smooth product can be achieved in one run.

Over 40 machines have been sold to entrepreneurs and others have fitted the metering device to existing machines. With the experience gained from these machines in the field, a new and cheaper model has been developed

A group of women in Mount Darwin – assisted by the Farmers Development Trust and several other organisations – have successfully established a processing unit. The Panorama Group were given a loan to build a mini-factory comprising a kitchen, processing room and store room. Having gained certification and licensing they have been able to sell at higher prices through formal retail outlets.

Another NGO, Zimbabwe Opportunities Industrialization Centres (ZOIC) is supporting two peanut butter groups in Masvingo province assisting them with processing equipment and currently building their factories. ZOIC is also supporting 80 households to produce peanuts for the groups.

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