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BioChemtek to assist Mozambique with soya education programme
The team, made up of various SASFA members, was hosted by the University of Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo. They undertook various trips to visit community assistance programmes, community restaurants and commercial enterprises. “The team’s brief,” said Sonya, “was to investigate the availability of soya foods in Mozambique, its processing and use amongst communities and to what extent it is incorporated into indigenous foods. We were also tasked to determine the nutritional needs of the people as well as the ‘knowledge gap’ with regard to the potential of soya. This is an important aspect so as to enable us to assist in the development of an appropriate workshop that would serve as a soya training programme that would directly address the needs expressed by the people themselves.” Sonya also made contact with the ADDP office in Machava that aims to mobilise up to 50 field officers to reach out to over 100 000 people in the community. The programme concentrates on door-to-door HIV/AIDS education, which includes information on nutrition. Every field officer works with community volunteers, called “appasionados”, who look after AIDS orphans and terminally ill patients. Sonya commented on the fact that the field workers are well organised and contact down to grass roots level is very effective. These volunteers are not paid for their efforts, but receive an income from “soya restaurants” or soup kitchens. Sonya and her team visited these kitchens to determine how to assist the ‘appasionados’ in using soya to present nutritious and tasty meals using local ingredients. “People will eat what they know,” commented Sonya, “so it is essential that the soya food products are integrated into the traditional local diet for it to be accepted as part of the Mozambican nutritional lifestyle. Soya has a bland taste and rubbery texture, therefore it needs soaking (prior to cooking) and flavouring. The challenge is to integrate the soya products with local spices so as to boost its acceptability.” A workshop is being planned for March, which will be held at the University of Eduardo Mondlane to reach stakeholders, field officers, people in the health field and the ‘appasionados’. Sonya expressed the hope that the workshop will make a difference in the quality of Mozambique’s nutrition by introducing adequate training in the preparation of soya-based foods, including tasty indigenous recipes and introducing business opportunities that will include soya restaurants. The supply of soya to the market on a commercial basis will also need some attention. Enquiries:
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The American Soybean Association (ASA), in collaboration with the World Initiative for Soya in Human Health (WISHH), has a programme in place that makes locally produced soya available to African countries where there is a need to improve nutrition and health. Sonya Buchner, a food scientist at CSIR Bio/Chemtek, has long been a member of the Southern African Soy Food Association’s (SASFA) Executive Committee and was requested by WISHH to be part of the SASFA team that recently embarked on a fact-finding mission to Mozambique to determine the current status of and knowledge on soya food.