From Benchside to Community Research: Development of Affordable and Accessible Probiotic Foods in East Africa

Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when ingested in adequate amounts, confer health benefits. In 2004, Western Heads East brought Fiti to East Africa and trained women how to produce Fiti probiotic yogurt. Fiti is composed of a probiotic culture, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1, and a starter strain, Streptococcus thermophilus C1062. This initiative has since empowered low-income groups to gain financial independence, particularly women. There are currently ~250 kitchens feeding over 250,000 consumers daily in East Africa. A challenge with accessing Fiti yoghurt is the fluctuating cost of milk and inconsistent supply of high quality milk. A potential solution is the consumption of Fiti through affordable non-dairy foods. Pilot studies reveal bacterial viability of Fiti probiotics in probiotic mango juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, mango juice, and millet porridge; there remains no sensory data on these products from East African populations. The research questions sought to examine how individuals in Tanzania and Kenya rated different non-dairy probiotic foods; how these ratings compared to probiotic yoghurt; and how these rating correlated with the willingness of individuals to consume non-dairy probiotic products

Fermented Food for Life: Stories of Inspiration, Struggle & Success

The Fermented Food for Life” project aims to improve food and nutrition security by increasing local production, distribution and consumption of health-promoting probiotic fermented yoghurt in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, targeting to reach 250,000 consumers in the three countries by its end in June 2018. A pro-poor value chain-based business model was identified as a common approach to achieve project’s main objective. In Uganda, over 100 production units of probiotic yoghurt are up and running across the whole country reaching at least 60,000 regular consumers. The project supported also the establishment of 58 production units in Tanzania and 37 in Kenya, producing in total around 14,000 litres of probiotic yoghurt per week. In Tanzania and Uganda, 56% of production units are owned by women, and 68% of all people involved in probiotic yoghurt production and sales are female. The project has also provided a unique opportunity for employment of rural youth involved in the distribution of yoghurt. Partners in project’s implementation include Heifer International, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, University of Western Ontario and Yoba for Life Foundation. The project is undertaken with the financial support of Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), www.idrc.ca and the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada (GAC), www.international.gc.ca Collected here are stories about the Fermented Food for Life project