Through her garden and home kitchen, Florence Ndinda has managed to redefine the art of chilli production.
She is now one of the country’s thriving suppliers of various flavoured chilli sauces and spices.
The 42-year-old Ndinda, who runs a successful home garden and kitchen from Okatjoruu in the Okakarara constituency, has since 2019 ventured into large-scale chilli planting. From her garden, she managed to produce much sought-after products for her kitchen and local market. Popularly known as Flo-H Kitchen, Ndinda’s eatery at Okatjoruu is where she conducts the intricate mixed production of her dry and wet products, such as her flavoured sauces and spices.
“I grow red chillies and take them to my small home kitchen, called Flo-H Kitchen, where I bring all the delicious ingredients together and produce a super-delicious hot sauce that comes in five different flavours. The flavours I produce are the extra hot, plain, garlic, sweet and sweet mayo flavours. We also produce two of our dry production products, which are Ondungu Spice – the original and garlic flavour,” said Ndinda.
Overcoming challenges
It has not been an easy journey for Ndinda, who struggled with getting her products accepted by various giant retailers, and had challenges with marketing her products due to the lack of a barcode and high transportation costs.
“However, through perseverance, we managed to overcome some of those challenges, as our products now have a barcode. Through that, we have managed to have our products on the shelves of various retailers in Windhoek, Grootfontein and other places. As for marketing, I now make full use of social media to reach our clients. It has been paying off,” she remarked.
“Before Covid-19 struck Namibia, we were supplying to over 16 retailers and filling stations countrywide. However, the pandemic disrupted all that. We are now down to a few retailers only. But we remain hopeful and continue to work hard to meet the demands of our clients. Our products are truly well-received by the market. That is why we harvest twice a week,” she added.
Through vigorous digital marketing, Ndinda’s products captured the attention of the World Food Programme (WFP).
In 2023, was chosen to represent Namibia at the Rural Innovative Expo in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“It was indeed a proud moment for me to be part of the 10-member delegation that represented Namibia in DRC. The experience and exposure gained was very invaluable.
Such opportunities are very important to small-scale farmers like myself. It helps with overcoming the various challenges. Today, we have reached people in the United Kingdom, Canada and Botswana. That international marketing has been helpful, I must say,” she beamed.
From her own experience, she said chilli products and general chilli production can be likened to “a red diamond” because of its global demand and lucrativeness.
“If taken seriously and marketed well, chilli production can be lucrative. That is why I always refer to it as a red diamond. Since 2019, I have survived and sent my kids to school with this garden with the profits from the chilli product we produce here,” Ndinda shared.
Government intervention
Although she has managed to run her business without any external funding, she emphasised the importance of government’s financial and technical support, especially for upcoming farmers with no collateral to access loans from private banks.
“It is very difficult when you do not have any asset to use as collateral when applying for loans from private banks. That is where government assistance becomes vital. Government can assist in the form of soft loans, grants and others, but assistance is definitely needed for farmers to expand their operations and reach all markets,” she stated.
– ohembapu@nepc.com.na