1. Product Description: Plastic rain coats are made from PVC sheets of various thicknesses and in various colors. Due to its low cost and practical use rain coats are used in our country especially in the urban areas.
2. Rationale: Plastic rain coats are essential clothing material for people who work in the open air during the rainy season. Ploughing and weeding are done in the rainy season in the Amhara Region. Of the 19.2 million people in the Region, about 17.3 million people live on farms. Most of these people (above the age of 6) need plastic rain coats because the adults work on farms and children take care of the domestic animals. Because the use of rain coats is not widely practiced, people face the problem of raining while working in the open air. It is depressing to see people soaked with rain water and shivering while performing agricultural activities. In many cases due to lack of protection from the rain, farmers stop working on their farms and this delays many critical farm works which negatively affect volume of crop production. If rain coats are produced in the Region and introduced to farmers, they will be needed by practically all farmers. One unique advantage that rain coats have is that, unlike umbrella, their use do not interfere in the ploughing or weeding activities of the farmers.
3. Market Potential: In rural Amhara Region, children above the age of about seven and the whole adult population are engaged in various agricultural activities during the rainy season. The rainy season is one of the busiest seasons of the year. To protect themselves from the rains, people need rain coats. The traditional rain coat “clothing” such as “gessa” (which is made from a special type of grass) or umbrella is inconvenient to work on farms while wearing it. Recently farmers have started using plastic materials and it is common in Amhara region to see farmers wearing crudely sewn plastic materials to protect themselves from the rain. If rain coats are made available in rural markets in the Region, there will be enough demand for these products to make a rain coat producing plant a viable venture. For example if 20 percent of the rural male population of the Region (1.73 million) buy one rain coat each, total demand for the product can reach 1,730,000 rain coats. This minimum demand estimate is more than the production capacity of a medium size rain coat producing plant.
4. Source of Raw Material: The plastic sheets will be imported until such a time that plant produces its own plastic sheet.
5. Process and Technology: PVC sheets are cut as per pattern of the rain coat. The different parts are then thermo-welded as per pattern. Zips, buttons and elastic tapes are also fixed by thermo-welding. Other products can be fabricated by heat sealing of plastic sheet pieces already cut as per design and pattern. Main machinery include automatic sealing machine with thermostatically control device, button fixing machine, scissors and tools.
6. Estimated Investment: For a plant which can produce 120 plastic rain coats per day, the investment requirement will be:-
§ Building/Shade 100m2 at Birr 1500/m2 = Birr 150,000
§ Machinery = Birr 75,000
§ Working Capital = Birr 90,000
315,000
7. Benefits: Decreases the hardship f of undertaking farm works when it rains, increases productivity.
8. Location: Bahir Dar, Combolcha or any urban center to be chosen by the investor.