Pangpang mamas diversify peanut products through value addition

April 20, 2026 11:26 pm | Posted in Business News | Share now TwitterFacebook

By Nicholas Mwai.

What was once a simple backyard crop is now a growing source of income for women in Pangpang, with support from Live and Learn Vanuatu.

At the organisation’s Silver Jubilee celebration last week, women from different communities displayed locally made products. One of the standout exhibits was flavoured peanut products produced by mamas from Pangpang village on Efate.

Daily Post spoke with Rosie Bule, one of the women involved in the initiative, who explained how the project has changed their approach to farming and selling.

“This business is a project that Live and Learn brought to us through the authorities down to the branch level to us mamas,” she said.

Ms Bule said the process begins from planting and caring for peanuts through to production.

“We plant peanuts, we have a nursery, then it goes to the crop plot. From there it comes into food security and then we produce our products,” she said.

Through training support from the Department of Industry (DOI), the women have learned to diversify their products and improve value addition.

“Peanut is something many people sell, but with the help of Live and Learn and the DOI, we learned that we can sell peanuts in other ways,” she said.

“We now make honey peanuts, garlic peanuts, chilli peanuts and other products. Not just peanuts, we also make chips, all in our own packaging.”

She said the move from traditional selling methods to value-added products has increased their income.

“Compared to how we normally sell peanuts, cooked, green or dried, these products make more money, and we still produce everything ourselves,” Bule said.

Demand has also been strong, with products often selling out quickly.

“A lot of people love our products, from children to adults. Sometimes it doesn’t even last,” she said.

“Compared to other products I’ve sold at the market, this one sells really fast.”

The products are mainly sold at their facility in Pangpang, with occasional sales at the Port Vila market.

Bule said the initiative has given women in the community a sense of pride and independence.

“We are so happy that in our community we have our own products. We plant them ourselves and produce them for the market.”

The display shows how community-based programmes, supported by organisations such as Live and Learn Vanuatu, are helping women move beyond subsistence farming into small-scale enterprise.