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The Family
The Eriksson family consists of Dorothy and Rolf Eriksson and their four children and twelve grandchildren. Rolf is originally from Sweden. In 1973, he and Dorothy bought the Chankwakwa farm in Kabwe, Zambia. The mixture of Swedish and Zambian culture might at first appear as an odd couple. However, it quickly becomes evident that this is not the case. In reality, the Eriksson’s are a fantastic example of the cultural diversity that exists in Zambia. With his Swedish agricultural background, Rolf Eriksson has contributed with a Scandinavian sense of order and efficiency, while Dorothy stands for everything that characterizes a colourful, African woman. Today they work together with their son Bertil and his family that also live at the farm. |
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The Beginning
Chankwakwa farm is a fully developed farm established in 1973, with a capacity of 1227 hectares for the purpose of producing soya beans, maize, tomatoes and other cash crops as well as life stock. Failing agriculture policies forced Chankwakwa to diversify in an attempt to fully reach its potential. So in the year 2000 Chankwakwa ventured into the food processing industry. With the attainment of a dehydrator Chankwakwa began to manufacture full fat soya flour with a vision of teaching and training on the nutritional benefits of soya. The desire to maximize on the use of Zambian grown produce resulted in a number of years of tedious experimentation. Different processing techniques were studied and suitable marketable products were tested for the local as well as the export markets. |
The Facilities
As Chankwakwa was forced to diversify and decided to venture into the food processing industry a factory was set up at the farm in 2003, after first operating for three years on rented property. This facility was built according to HACCP standards as Chankwakwa took aim at the export market. The building is divided into sections so as to minimize any risk of cross contamination. There is the receiving room, where fruit gets graded and washed, the production room where the fruit gets prepared either for the dryers or the pot and lastly the packing room. There are also very good storage facilities in forms of two large cold rooms. Outside there is six solar-dryers as well as a large electric dryer for usage during continuous rains. However, Zambia’s electricity is produced by hydro power, resulting in products with a very low carbon footprint.
As Chankwakwa was forced to diversify and decided to venture into the food processing industry a factory was set up at the farm in 2003, after first operating for three years on rented property. This facility was built according to HACCP standards as Chankwakwa took aim at the export market. The building is divided into sections so as to minimize any risk of cross contamination. There is the receiving room, where fruit gets graded and washed, the production room where the fruit gets prepared either for the dryers or the pot and lastly the packing room. There are also very good storage facilities in forms of two large cold rooms. Outside there is six solar-dryers as well as a large electric dryer for usage during continuous rains. However, Zambia’s electricity is produced by hydro power, resulting in products with a very low carbon footprint.
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The Farmers
Families in Zambia have had no tradition of cultivating mangoes on a commercial level. In fact, people have often had to throw out fruit because they were unable to sell it. Chankwakwa is training and organizing families in cooperatives. These families are now able to sell their mangoes. In order to meet demand it became necessary to venture out into Luapula province, 700 km from Kabwe, to purchase mango from small scale farmers there. Farmers have been trained in organic practices and follow a fair trade model. Chankwakwa empowers small scale farmers by giving them the know-how on fruit and vegetable growing so as to be able to produce quality crops. Our local support and involvement in the areas of health, education, and the environment benefit around one thousand families. |
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chankwakwa@gmail.com
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+260 977937109
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Chankwakwa Farm
Kabwe Zambia |
