Like farmers anywhere the annual cycle comes to a head when they learn whether they have sold the crop which they have worked so hard to produce - and at what price. That time is right now for Funwe Seed, because the rains will start shortly and local farmers are acquiring the seed they need for this season's planting.
Seed is sold on a sale or return basis by agro dealers all over the country, so Funwe Seed, in competition with the other seed companies (Pannar, Monsanto etc) has to ensure that it has enough of the right seed in the right places at the right time - otherwise there will be shortages in one area and returns in others (and if planting has finished it may not be possible to store late returns).
The need for effective logistics is accentuated by the fact that the government subsidise the cost of seed for poor farmers (the majority) through a coupon system. All the coupons are issued within a short period, so Funwe Seed needs to be available when the small farmers start queuing up outside the agro dealers with an avalanche of coupons - otherwise they may well buy from the competition .... so the pressure is really on at Mitongwe to get seed bagged and labelled and out to the agro dealers on time. They are working 24/7 to achieve that - but when everyone is working under pressure little things get forgotten.... There is no mains power on the farm and yesterday the (Chinese made) generator was dispensing fluctuating voltage, which meant that the laser printer wouldn't print the labels properly onto the seed packets, which was holding up despatch . Dirty generator filters were the culprit.