Sustainability was uppermost in Victoria Mwafulirwa’s mind when she founded her business, Homes Industries Ltd, which produces nutritious food using eco-friendly and innovative manufacturing processes. This award winning agri-preneur is a passionate environmentalist.
Creating economic opportunities
Formed eight years ago, Homes Industries Ltd, works closely with more than 2 500 smallholder farmers, creating awareness about responsible and sustainable farming practices. It has grown rapidly and established itself as a trusted name within the agro-business sector in Malawi. It is also gaining traction in Southern Africa and abroad, having recently exported tonnes of grains to South Africa and the United States. Through Homes Industries Ltd, Mwafulirwa has also created many substantial economic opportunities for women and girls as well as creating jobs for them. Currently she employs eleven people in the Karonga district in northern Malawi.
Empowering women and girls
Home Industries Ltd grows and manufactures cold-pressed sunflower, rice and peanut flour, locally known as Nsinjiro. It also processes and packages brown and regular white Kilombero rice and it recently added to its offering a nutritious and delicious peanut paste. Apart from producing nutritious food, Mwafulirwa also uses her company to especially empower women and girls to ensure they have access to education and be self-reliant while running their households in sustainable ways.
Mwafulirwa is also negotiating for better prices for farm produce thereby enabling small rural farmers to generate decent incomes and sustain their operations. This enterprising woman is also currently involved in a number of initiatives that aim not only to advocate for women and youth participation in the economy, but also to promote climate change interventions and healthy living practices.
Not only an agri-preneur, Mwafulirwa also boasts skills in other critical areas which came in handy in her current occupation. She is a communications and supply chain professional, having previously worked as communications and external relations officer and as supply chain officer for Paladin Africa. She also worked as a news correspondent for SABC Africa in Malawi and won several accolades including:
- Being awarded the African Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) award in 2020;
- The Home Industries Ltd scooped the Agri Entrepreneur of the Year at the same time and
- in 2019, her company was also awarded the Most Impactful Business by Hivos People Unlimited.
Environmental activist
Mwafulirwa has served as regional chairperson for the African Network for Environmental Journalists under the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP); as regional editor for Earth Wire Africa, an online news portal focusing on environmental and current affairs on the continent and served as the Secretary General of the Cross-border Association of Malawi, while working as news correspondent for SABC Africa in the country..
Early influences
Asked about what inspired her to start her company, Mwafulirwa said she wanted to run a business involved in food provision with an environmental impact. She got engaged in commercial activities early in life, thanks to her grandmother who was a strong advocate for women’s education and economic empowerment. Similarly, her mother was also a shrewd business person who used to make assorted confectionery snacks, tailored clothes and heavy-duty uniforms on order.
“My mother is a food chemist, my father is an industrial technologist and I am a communications and supply chain professional,” she says. She says she saw a gap in the processed products market and wanted to exploit it. She boasts that her company is “very special because we are an inclusive business where the impact on households is felt and seen. Our uniqueness lies in the fact that we are able to control quality first-hand with smallholder farmers,” Mwafulira said.
Future plans
She says she wants to expand her organisation’s footprint and make it a leading whole food processor in Malawi and eventually, globally. “While we have started exporting, we wish to continue with sustainable food production, so we are able to be food secure. We are the brand for every home and we intend to live it and deliver our brand promise,” she concluded.
