Part of their cost is distribution. They have huge machines in central locations that can crank out millions of units, but there is no way they can compete with a machine on site that can already make enough to supply the whole village.
And they would have no choice but to sell them in a shop, which as the article mentioned, are predominantly run by men.
The inventor effectively cut off any chance for a multinational brand to enter this market, because he is selling the people their own manufacturing capital and distribution network, rather than trying to capture all the consumers for himself.
It would be like Microsoft trying to sell Windows 8 on an island where every inhabitant already uses the island's own distribution of Linux, and 10 people in every village contribute to it regularly.