SUCCESS STORIES
Making a difference—the evidence of success
Candlenuts Fuel Economic Growth in Timor-Leste
Local Factory Capitalizes on Grants for Training, Equipment

Hundreds of candlenuts lay drying in the sun at Maria Anglica Freitas’ feet. Long popular in Timor-Leste for cooking, lamp fuel, and medicinal purposes, candlenuts are increasingly sought-after in the region and are now exported to the United States for cosmetic applications. Freitas makes a living collecting the nuts and selling them to the Acelda Company, a local exporter that has recently been able to expand its operations. Acelda offers the best local price for the nut, thanks in part to business training and grants that have enabled the company to improve its financial footing.

“We are happy to sell our candlenut to Acelda because they offer the best price– forty-five cents a kilogram,” Freitas said. “This enables us to send our children to school and cover our basic needs.”

The training and grants in question were provided by the Timor-Leste Small Grants Program (SGP), a four-year initiative funded by the U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by DAI. On this grant activity, SGP works in funding partnership with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, the University of Hawaii, local bank Caixa Geral do Depositos, and Timor-Leste’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. 

In 2006, Acelda received a grant to update its financial and business management systems. Leveraging loans from a local bank, it installed computer systems and SGP partner staff from the University of Hawaii trained factory management on accounting software. In the past, Acelda relied on collecting and exporting raw candlenuts; now the business thrives as a processing plant where collected nuts are filtered, pressed, bottled, and exported. Acelda recently secured a three-year contract with Hawaiian cosmetic manufacturer Oils of Aloha for 150 to 180 barrels of oil per year.

SGP supports businesses, communities, organizations, and government in their efforts to build a stable, economically robust, democratic country. Historically, Timorese entrepreneurship was stifled under Portuguese colonization and Indonesian occupation. Given that 75 percent of Timor-Leste’s residents rely on subsistence agriculture, the need for innovative, alternative sources of income is acute. Most of SGP’s training and grant-making activities focus on USAID’s strategic objective of advancing Timor-Leste’s post-conflict economic development. SGP works with partners to improve literacy, address high unemployment rates (especially among young people), and assist rural schools and training institutions to deliver practical training in marketable skills. SGP works hard to ensure that women receive equal access to grant benefits and that grants are distributed equitably across the country. 

As Acelda’s business goes global, local residents are reaping the rewards. “Acelda is contributing to the local community by employing eight staff and buying unprocessed candlenut from local candlenut growers,” said Acelda’s director, Higino da Costa Freitas. Meanwhile, Oil of Aloha has received its first 160 barrels of oil and the buyer has requested an annual increase to 180 barrels per year through 2008.



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Maria Anglica Freitas makes a living collecting and selling candlenuts.
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