Omagongo factory undergoes facelift

PRODUCTION of marula wine (omagongo) at the Eudafano Women’s Co-operative factory at Ondangwa is on hold because of work on improving the processing system.

The factory produces marula wine from fresh fruits brought by women from surrounding areas.

Factory manager Martha Negumbo told that due to Covi-19, the process of making marula wine had to be improved in line with the regulations.

“Omagongo is an alcoholic drink and therefore health issues must also be taken into account when producing it,” said Negumbo.

She said this year, the cooperative has seen growth in terms of membership and interest from the four northern regions and this had contributed hugely to the co-operative.

“There are a lot of budding companies in the sector and this has given Eudafano the idea that there is demand for the product and a potential for the resources,” she said.

Negumbo said despite the renovations, they continue selling marula nut and Kalahari melon oil locally and international, for nutritional and cosmetic purposes.

She added that Covid-19 had impacted negatively on their activities, because of the limitations to the number of people at the factory in line with social distancing regulations.

This had also affected deliveries of finished products as well as imported packaging materials.

The co-operative was registered in 1999 and has about 2 000 members from 26 associations. The factory was opened in 2004.

The members mainly supply raw materials (dry and fresh marula fruit and Kalahari melon seeds) to Eudafano for processing.

Marula juice is extracted from fresh fruits while nuts from the dry kernels are crushed for oil.

Oil is also extracted from Kalahari melon seeds.