Annelie Bernhart and Dr. Yara Koréissi Dembélé
How do we turn traditional crops into food products that are safe, tasty and marketable? This is one of the emerging challenges in promoting the cultivation and consumption of fonio (Digitaria sp.), Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) and nutritious underutilized vegetables in Sikasso and Ségou regions of Mali as part of the IFAD-EU NUS project.
To address this challenge, a workshop on processing, utilization, consumption and preservation of these crops was held from 7-17 March 2016; joining community representatives with nutritionists and technicians from the Food Technology Laboratory of the State Institute for rural development (IER). The sessions were focused on the importance of hygiene in all processing steps, good taste, nutrient preservation and increasing shelf-life to enhance value chains for achieving food and nutritional security.
Fourteen women and one man from six villages in the Ségou and Sikasso region participated in the workshop that was conducted in the local “Bambara” language.
In Mali, as in many other parts of the world, the knowledge and practice related to underutilised crops and their uses is often upheld by women. With their increased work-load in times of socio-economic change, traditional processing that is labour and time intensive is often hardly feasible. This workshop contributed to transfer and sharing of new technologies, that would enhance and promote women’s knowledge and motivation to maintain unique nutritious crops.
From tomato pastes, tasty vegetable pickles and dried shallot products, participants were impressed by the range of products that can be derived from their own crops. They perceived the new techniques as a valuable addition to their traditional ways, and are now happy to share them with others. Attention to detail, shared learning and commitment during the participation were emphasised to create lasting community-based training units that can carry forward their learning and inspire others that could not participate on the day.
The training highlighted the importance of processing and the ways in which agrobiodiversity-related research can link to beneficial practices on the ground. The IFAD-EU Project will continue to explore nutrition sensitive processing for these crops. Meanwhile, the workshop sparked motivation to conduct a similar workshop for underutilised fruit products (the Zaban).