Vestafrikas værdifulde mikroorganismer og grøn vækst

Danish development research network (DDRN) After Work Seminar 2 in spring 2015:

“Preserving African Food Microorganisms for Green Growth” – a DANIDA-funded research project about how to obtain a sustainable West African food production.

Speaker: Moses Mengu, Director, International Centre (DTI).
 
Please register to [email protected] by Tuesday 26 may 2015.
 
Description

The aim of the project is to turn the food sector in West Africa into a driver of sustainable growth, improve food security, create new business opportunities, ensure job generation, alleviate poverty and create stronger linkages between relevant stakeholders.

The major part of West African foods are fermented (i.e. foods produced by the activity of microorganisms) and do play a predominant role in the diet (kost) of West Africans.

Fermented foods have many advantages; they are produced from local crops, at reduced energy cost, they are nutritious and generally free from pathogens (smittekilder), they have a long shelf life and can be stored unrefrigerated.

They are mainly produced and sold by women and constitute an important source of family income. Globalization and urbanization however challenge the traditional food culture and thereby the livelihood of many families.

To preserve these valuable foods it is important to up-scale from household to semi-industrial scale, control these otherwise spontaneous fermentation by adding starter cultures, introduce quality control systems, increase the productivity and quality in the production chain, improve marketability by developing business models and implement sustainable packaging technologies and ways of distribution.

West African microorganisms are unique and an important natural biological resource well-suited to the West African climate and crops. To obtain a sustainable West African food production it is therefore important to preserve the inherent microbiota of West African fermented foods.

The project will isolate and scientifically characterize these microorganisms, establish national bio-banks in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Benin and develop technologies for production and distribution of starter cultures to SMEs (små og mellemstore virksomheder).

It will also create new market opportunities through up-scaling from house-hold to semi-industrial scale, upgrade specific indigenous foods to convenience food – produced and packaged to fulfil the needs of an urbanized population. 

Source: http://drp.dfcentre.com/project/preserving-african-food-microorganisms-g…

HUSK at du indtil videre kan se hele månedsoversigten over arrangementer på http://u-landsnyt.dk/kalender