Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
14.3.4 Processing training
The development of new and improved indigenous fruit processing technologies
would only be effective if the information is disseminated to farmers and
communities who can use it in their everyday lives. Traditional processing of
indigenous fruits is decreasing in Zimbabwe due to changes in lifestyle and
decreasing amount of fruits available for processing (Kadzere
et al
., 2002). The
World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in collaboration with national partners
began by training 198 farmer trainers in the Tabora region of Tanzania. The
training focused on processing indigenous fruits into juices, jams and wine in
four districts; as at 2002, the farmer trainers have in turn trained 2045
processors in 19 villages (Swai
et al
., 2002).
Box 14.1. Fruits of training
The Mtendere Food Processing Club is a group of women established in Jerusalem
village, approximately 30 km from Chipata, through the efforts of ICRAF. The purpose of
establishing the processing group was to train the women in the vicinity of the village in
the processing of fruit to improve their nutritional status, to create income-generating
opportunities and to encourage the preservation and planting of trees, especially
indigenous trees.
One of the Club's members was Mrs Anna Jere.* In 2001 she received 3 days of
training from ICRAF in Malawi on wine-making. She started her business by producing
20 l of banana wine, using her own capital from baking bread and buns. From this first
effort she proceeded to making 40 l of wine and, ever since, demand has grown to the
extent that she has added jams and juices to her range of products. Mrs Jere produces
products from bananas, pawpaws and mangos as well as from wild fruits such as
A.
boehmii
,
Flacourtia indica
,
U. kirkiana
and
P. curatellifolia
. She collects these wild fruits
in the nearby forest areas with the help of her six children. She has developed an
innovative way of selling jam by baking buns and selling jam by the teaspoon to the
people who buy the buns. She sells most of her products from home and found that
different people prefer different products. The jam is bought by both adults and children,
while juices are bought by children (who buy at any time, as opposed to adults who
usually buy in the afternoon and evenings). Wine is principally bought by adults.
Additionally, wine and jam have been sold in Katete (>50 km away) and at agricultural
shows in the area. The retail prices in Katete and at agricultural shows have been higher
than in Jerusalem village. As the demand for the products increased, she began supplying
wine, jam and juices to people within a 20 km radius around Jerusalem. Even the local
traditional leader, Chief Mpezeni, is a regular client. During the harvesting season, Mrs Jere
exchanges wine for maize, groundnuts (peanuts) and beans as payments in kind. One litre
of groundnuts is exchanged for a 300 ml bottle of wine; a 2 l container of groundnuts is
exchanged for a 750 ml bottle of wine, and a 3 l container of maize is exchanged for a
750 ml bottle of wine. Mrs Jere has managed to start a retail business, has bought three
head of cattle and built a brick house with an iron-sheet roof from the sales of processed
fruit products. These developments have helped to improve her standard of living and her
ability to support her children, who are attending school. The purchase of cattle has had a
tremendous impact, due to the fact that under Ngoni tradition women very rarely own cattle.
Mrs Jere has also started to train other women in the art of processing fruit
products. She charges between US$4 and US$10 per person for training, which takes
place at the women's club. So far 140 individuals have been trained. She is not worried
about creating competition through the training/sharing of knowledge, since she believes
that, despite an increased number of people processing fruit, standards will still differ.
*Mrs Jere passed away in 2005.
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