Phumani Paper was established in 1999, as a partnership between South Africa's Department of Science and Technology and the University of Johannesburg. The vision behind Phumani was to create a series of hand-papermaking manufacturing units in extreme, rural poverty nodes in seven of South Africa's provinces. Since the organisation's inception it has assisted in the creation of more than 250 jobs and the implementation and mentoring of 15 small hand-papermaking enterprises in communities severely affected by unemployment and HIV/Aids. Phumani's handmade paper is crafted from locally available, natural resources and waste products. These include the bi-products from sugar-cane harvesting in KwaZulu-Natal, agri-waste produced from Free State mielie husks, invasive Eastern Cape Black Wattle tree material and banana stem fibres, produced in the Northern Province.

Production Capacity:
Approximately 100 items of a new product in an eight-week period.

Sector: