A MOZaic of Hope
MOZaic Marula Oil is more than just a product range. It is a story of hope from the heart of the Banhine National Park in Mozambique.
Meet Tacina, a mother of four and living in a community inside the park. She is a subsistence farmer and produces sorghum, beans and casava to survive. She never had the opportunity to go to school, but seems to live a happy life with her children and extended family as they work the fields together and support each other.
Production is low and the harvest is mainly used to sustain the family and saving seeds for the next season. Being so isolated means there are no economic activity in her community, no cell reception, electricity nor markets. Men go to South Africa or Maputo, to look for work and leave women behind for up to 11-months of the year. Some never come back. Mozambican women are hard working women and when given the slightest opportunity, they will make the most of it to earn an income.
MOZaic Upliftment - the non-profit organisation that founded MOZaic Marula Oil - walks with communities like this. The organisation helps them identify opportunities and then we equip them to produce quality products that can be sold internationally. Together with several communities, marula kernels were identified as an opportunity to generate income for families. The marula fruit is a natural renewable food source and an integral part of the Shangaan communities. The marula nut is a primary foods source high in protein and nutrients.
MOZaic Upliftment helped to build several communities’ capacity to break, dry and prepare high quality kernels to cold press virgin marula oil. The communities are paid a fair price for their labor.
Men and women of all ages are earning an income through kernel preparation while community leaders earn a commission on quality control and buying of the kernels.
Every two weeks MOZaic Upliftment buys the kernels and cold press it at our factory in Machaila. The marula oil is then taken to our office in Manjacaze where it is filtered and bottled unrefined. Analysis of the oil is done in South Africa and France in well-respected labs and confirms the quality of our virgin marula oil.
Through MOZaic Marula Oil, Tacina and her family are given the opportunity to stay together in the village and together work the lands to produce more staple food, but also earn an income from breaking marula nuts and selling the kernels to MOZaic Upliftment. When we asked Tacina last month what she does with her earnings, she shared how she can now buy soap, toothpaste, washing powder, salt and cooking oil. She also told us that she can now buy stationery for her children’s schooling and can afford transport to the nearest clinic 85km’s away.
This is the kind of story we hope to create. A story of equipping communities with skills and knowledge and bringing their produce to international markets. YOU can make a difference in the lives of many!
MOZaic Marula Oil not only brings hope to the buyer who applies it to their skin and raises their confidence, self-esteem and natural look, but also to those earning an income through the value chain; from Tacina and her family, the leaders monitoring the quality control, the workers pressing the oil, the coordinating team and agents. It is a win-win situation for everyone and therefore a MOZaic of hope through Marula Oil.