Feasibility study on production of wines and jams, Zambia, 2004

Description
This feasibility study was conducted by CPWild and the World Agroforestry Centre for Southern Africa to determine the viability of a cooperative fruit wine and jam processing enterprise located at Jerusalem, Zambia. The feasibility of the proposed enterprise was assessed in four core areas namely market and financial feasibility, technical feasibility, resource and environmental feasibility and social and institutional feasibility.

Summary of results
Based on the existing demand for fruit wines and jams, manifested through the sales currently achieved by the Jerusalem Women's Processing Group, a market opportunity for the production of good quality fruit wines and jams to compete on a commercial scale with similar products in the retail outlets in the Chipata area was identified. The analysis of the financial feasibility of the proposed enterprise revealed that (based on the assumptions that were made) the enterprise is potentially profitable and could greatly contribute to improving the incomes of the involved parties.

As a result of a lack in a comprehensive analysis of the current natural resources that are available in Zambia this feasibility study has made a number of assumptions regarding the environmental and/or natural resource feasibility of the enterprise. Based on the limited information it was concluded that the proposed enterprise could be environmentally feasible.

Processing technology that is ideally suited to the specific technical requirements of the proposed processing enterprise at Jerusalem, Zambia is readily and inexpensively available. The location at Jerusalem is suited to the establishment of a processing enterprise of this nature since it is reasonably well located with regards to resources and distribution channels. The procurement of some inputs, especially packaging, and the transportation of finished products to the market from Jerusalem are, however, detractors of the location at Jerusalem.

Taking the net social benefit of the proposed processing enterprise into consideration it can be concluded that the processing enterprise is anticipated to be socially and institutionally feasible. The women directly involved and their communities would benefit in a number of direct and indirect ways from the
establishment of the proposed enterprise.

Based on the framework set out in this feasibility study it can be concluded that the proposed processing enterprise at Jerusalem is feasible. This positive result of the feasibility analysis is, however, heavily dependant upon the assumptions made during the study and on conditions (political, environmental, economical etc.) remaining relatively stable within the enterprise's operating environment. If either the assumptions or the operating environment were to differ substantially from actual circumstances the actual feasibility of the processing enterprise at Jerusalem could differ from the current result.