The most important part of the project can be assigned to the transfer of knowledge, skills, technologies and samples of manufacturing. For this reason, the approach of van Alphen is most suitable fort his project. All points of van Alpen will be discussed one by one.
Entrepreneurial activities At the moment there are a lot of existing business opportunities that KITA is not fully benefitting from yet. KITA comes across as very motivated to set op a new business together with their students and this way giving the students a base for an entrepreneurial attitude. Therefor, the goals that have been communicated by KITA, like transferring knowledge about nutrition and developing the possibilities for processing Mor Nutro Powder at the campus, show that they are still at the start of the process in becoming an entrepreneurial institute.
Creation of adaptive capacity There are several Moringa businesses that have already been established in Ghana and are functioning well, like Ghana Pharmaceutical Institute (GPI). This indicates that there already is a question for the Mor Nutro Powder. To enlarge this question at schools and care centers in the direct neighborhood of KITA, there will be special educational moments at these institutes. This means that the willingness to use Mor Nutro Powder will increase during the project and also during the period after this. At the moment the conditions at KITA aren’t optimal for the process of convincing people to buy/cultivate Moringa. It would be very helpful to create an example farm at KITA in order to increase the adaptive capacity.
Knowledge diffusion through networks At this moment, the word about Mor Nutro Powder isn’t being spread as much as it should be. The reason for this is quite logical, because the Mor Nutro business at KITA has a small capacity, and in order to enlarge the demand for this powder there first has to be created a capacity that can live up to this enlargement in demand. The only diffusion of knowledge at the moment is via personal contact with schools and care centers, and the word-of-mouth advertising don by the people that have already come in contact with the Mor Nutro Powder and had a positive experience with this. We will make informative flyers and take these with us to Ghana to make these contact moments with schools and care centers more efficient and valuable.
Demand articulation One of the reasons for malnutrition to be such a big problem in Ghana is the lack of knowledge about the importance if nutrition. Many Ghana citizens are not aware of the value of vitamins, minerals and proteins and what harm it can cause when these aren’t consumed regularly. Because of this lack of knowledge, many people are sick without knowing the cause lies in their feeding pattern and can be solved relatively easily with nutritious products like the Mor Nutro Powder.
Market formation The Moringa industry in Ghana already has established a specific market. There are several groups who might be interest in het Mor Nutro Powder that KITA will supply. These are;
Malnourished persons, who are in need of an improvement of their daily diet.
Nursing mothers, who need to improve their diet in order to give birth to a healthy child.
Children, for their development, growth and overall health.
Other people who are interested in improving their daily diet. If these people will be addressed, there is a big chance the demand of Mor Nutro Powder will be increased. All of the target groups need to be addressed separately, because they all have different reasons for their interest in the product.
6. Resources mobilization Because the design and building of a milling and packaging center and a walk-in solardryer are a big part of the project, these haven’t been established yet. These are important resources of the project, and will be needed in order to create a sustainable business. There has been done fundraising in order to reach the goals of creating these systems. Other resources, like money, come from KITA.
7. Creation of legitimacy / counteract resistance to change The schools that already have been addressed in order to provide education about nutrition and the improvement that Mor Nutro Powder can bring to their health, have responded very positive. They all we’re very interested in the product, and therefor we will visit these schools again during our stay in Ghana and hopefully this time around they will be convinced to use the product in the meals they serve. Care centers on the other hand are a bit more skeptic towards Mor Nutro Powder, because it is a natural product. Doctors in Ghana only believe in the Western way of curing diseases, so they don’t take this product that is from their own land very serious.
8. Infrastructure networks We are not fully informed about the infrastructure that is existing from KITA to the schools and care centers that are willing to buy the Mor Nutro Powder. There have to be a possibility in transportation of the Mor Nutro Powder to the clients. If there isn’t any infrastructure, the possibility of keeping them as a client is very small, because KITA does not have the capacity of creating new infrastructure between client and supplier.