CCFEH

More “Golden Oil” on the Haitian Market

In December, Mikerlange Austin was named the Best Entrepreneur Innovator by the Chamber of Commerce of Women Entrepreneurs of Haiti (CCFEH) in the South department. Her journey as a successful businesswoman began with her desire to keep alive the Haitian cultural tradition of making Palma Christi oil (or castor oil) which is derived from the castor oil plant Ricinus communis, a native plant in the southern region where she lives. Palma Christi oil is commonly used in traditional medicine as a topical treatment because it has naturally occurring anti-inflammatory, antifungal, and wound healing properties. “Palma Christi oil has become rare in the area where I live and has mostly been made by elderly people in a traditional way,” explains the 26-year-old. “I wanted not only to make it available on the market but also to modernize the commercialization.” When Mikerlange started her small business in April 2020, she manually processed the Palma Christi seeds to extract the oil. The work was time consuming, but she was driven by the desire to succeed. Armed with determination, she went to the local market to sell her hand-pressed oil but was met with some skepticism. “I was told that a young woman like me cannot be selling Palma Christi oil because it is only sold by old people. I was not taken seriously at first,” she said. “However, I did not let this affect me because my objective was to have a thriving business to respond to the demand in my community. I told myself maybe I need to diversify my customers. I started looking for other customers (grocery stores) and opportunities.” Upon learning about a small business training given by USAID’s ATTEINDRE activity, she signed up to participate and then eagerly pitched her vision of modernizing the oil extraction process and adding value to her product. Traditionally, customers would bring their own bottle to buy castor oil. Mikerlange saw the value in bottling her “Golden Oil” for added convenience and ease of use. She understood that bottling the oil removed the burden on customers to find their own bottles and it made her product more accessible to new customers. As the winner of the Best Entrepreneur in the South in agro-transformation, Mikerlange received a prize to upgrade her business venture, MIVA Production. Soon after, she purchased filtering equipment that has saved her time and effort by converting her previously manual processing and filtering of castor oil seeds to a more automated one. With Mikerlange’s new equipment in use and her streamlined Palma christi oil business in motion, her sales increased. Her success also boosted her local castor oil seed producers, who benefited from a boost in her raw material orders to meet the new demand. “Before, I was barely making two gallons of oil per day because everything was done by hand and using charcoal or wood,” says the proud entrepreneur. “With the new equipment, I am making about 15 gallons daily. Currently, I operate in the South department only, but I would like to expand my business not only in Haiti but also internationally. I also wish to be a supplier for some renowned brands such as Kreyol Essence. My goal is to make at least 100 gallons of oil monthly … . I am grateful to have had this opportunity to participate in the training and present my business idea.” Her customer base has become more diversified as she is now supplying different stores, markets, and groceries stores in her town. Mikerlange is one of 300 entrepreneurs to benefit from ATTEINDRE’s support, which addresses gaps in business counseling, workforce development, and financial services, and works to achieve equitable standards for women to reach their full potential and for their business to become more ‘bankable.’ USAID, through ATTEINDRE, has paved the way for many vibrant entrepreneurs such as Mikerlange to become the next generation of businesswomen capable of reaching greater heights of financial success and better serving Haiti’s economy for years to come. https://medium.com/usaid-2030/more-golden-oil-on-the-haitian-market-e12ee72c584b