YAP proposal #231: Healthy processing of maize into Fermented maize flour (Adenekan Olufemi Olawale, Nigeria)

Food And Water Pollution: Our Children Are Dying Like Chickens!!!

Each year, diarrhea kills around 760 000 children under five. It is the second leading cause of death in children under five years old. It also kills adult too. Sadly, it is both preventable and treatable. A significant proportion of diarrhoeal disease can be prevented through safe –drinking and eating and adequate sanitation and hygiene.

My name is Adenekan Olufemi Olawale, 32; Managing Director at Daily Fresh Farms, from Lagos, Nigeria, Male. I hold a Bsc in Economics from Babcock University and a Certificate in Entrepreneurial Management from Enterprise Development Center at Pan Atlantic University.

This project is about healthy processing of maize into Fermented maize flour generally called Pap in English, and traditionally called Akamu or Ogi in Nigeria, mieliepap in South Africa and Shona in Zimbabwe.

Maize is a major staple food in Africa and the third most cultivated crop in the world after wheat and rice. This local processing and production of maize into Pap comes in form of wet fermented maize paste.

The traditional form of processing and storage of this prepare maize paste permits microbial growth including pathogens that causes diarrhea, typhoid and other food related diseases.

Furthermore, not only is the storage cumbersome, which involves daily changing of water used for storing the flour paste, but also very unreliable because of prevalent electric power failure in Nigeria.

At Daily Fresh Farms, we have devised a drying technique that would convert the maize paste to flour and also ensure a durable, dry and safe fermented maize flour completely devoid of unpleasant odor and taste associated with traditional wet paste product.

I hate waste with passion. In this part of the world where poverty and hunger is prevalent, a lot of Maize waste on the farm due to use of crude and inefficient processing technology. Embarking on this project will help stop wastage by buying up of maize cobs and processing them to the flour form for preservation.

The market potential for Pap is huge but largely untapped. This is a source of concern for me. Most Africans in Diaspora would love to have a taste of their home delicacies but the poor packaging and preservation of this staple food is posing a serious limitation on its export potential.

In addition, many poor people lack basic nutrition needed for survival and health. My desire is to see this staple food available in a durable form thus making it easy to store and transport.

I have undergone a technical training on how to process the maize into fermented maize flour and have taken notes of all the necessary requirements of the food regulatory agencies. We also have production factory in place and have register a business for this venture.

The major thing needed now to actualize this vision is the acquisition of a flash dryer, grinding machine and finances to kick start operations. The funds from this grant will help achieve that.

My plans for the $5,000 grant.

First Disbursement:

Acquisition of Industrial dryer: $1800
Grinding machine: $200

Second Disbursement:

Purchase of Raw materials: $400
Provisions for working capital: $1000

Third Disbursement:

Marketing and Business expansion: $1600

Maize is the food of the common man. All efforts needs to be made to ensure its potential is maximized and wastage minimize.

Blogpost and picture submitted by Adenekan Olufemi Olawale (Nigeria) – daily.fresh.farms[at]gmail.com

The content, structure and grammar is at the discretion of the author only.

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This post is published as proposal #231 of “YAP” – our “Youth Agripreneur Project”.

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