Mwakitawa Girl High School is located in a rural area of Voi district in Taita Taveta County, Kenya. The school has good internet connection and access to an ICT hub in nearby Voi town. Matomoko Marketing Company was established in June 2014 by students of Mwakitawa Girl High School and focuses on producing juice and exporting custard apples. The 12 member company is made up of different departments and works with local farmers, paying them fair prices. While still learning business processes, the company has progressed fast, winning third place for best company at a trade fair in 2015 for introducing a new product. The company struggles with developing a marketing strategy to attract customers and export abroad.

1. Matomoko Marketing Company
School: Mwakitawa Girl High School
Region: Voi District, Taita Taveta County, Kenya
Mwakitawa Girl High School is located in a rural area of the Voi district. The school is
surrounded by bushes and mountains, having good connection to a nerby highway. The
school has a good internet. From September 2015, occasional internet fall down will be
addressed by allowing the students to work from Sote ICT Hub in Voi town.
Company established: June 2014
Business Subject: Matomoko Marketing
focus on production of juice and export of
custard apples (matomoko in Swahili).
Trying to bring value to their community,
they buy the fruits from local farmers for
fair prices.
Departmets: Directorate, Financial
Department, Marketing Department,
Customer Relations, Human Resources,
Production Department
Number of members: 12
Matomoko Marketing is one of the youngest companies withing the project. The girls are still
in the process of learning about business processes, work within departments, or
communication with partners and customers. Although they still need to catch up with other
companies in many aspects, they have progressed fast and won 3rd place for best company
at the trade faire in April 2015 for bringing a new product onto the market. Very refreshing is
their fair trade approach. Besides buying from local farmers, they also inform them about the
actual market value of custard apples, which gives the farmers better negotiation position
when they trade with middlemen. Thanks to the increased income, the farmers are able to
employ more people to help them take care of the trees and the crop, which results in
improvements in their communities. The company does not have real competitors in the
region, but struggles with how to prepare a marketing startegy to attract customers or export
abroad.
Awards:
3nd place in the category Best Company at Sote ICT Trade Faire – April 2015

2. Areas of possible cooperation with the University of Huddersfield students:
Preparation of a marketing strategy, business strategy, development of a business plan or
a SWOT analysis, PR plan, CSR startegy
Custard apples
Matomoko Marketing after its establishment in June 2014 (the school used to be a mixed
school then, now it is a girl school)