2 nd Triennial GFAR Conference

Transcription

1 GFAR a.en 2 nd Triennial GFAR Conference May 2003 Méridien Président Hotel, Dakar, Sénégal Linking Research and Rural Innovation to Sustainable Development Successful Experiences in ARD: Partnership for Milk/Meat Preservation Technologies

2 PARTNERSHIP FOR MILK / MEAT PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT Lemunyete, L. 1 and Bruntse, A. 2 1 P.O Box 352, Maralal, 20600, Kenya, lemunyete@wananchi.com, 2 P.O. Box 198, Gilgil, Kenya, dloll@africaonline.co.ke. INTRODUCTION Kenya has about 70% arid and semi-arid lands. These areas are sparsely populated, mainly by different nomadic pastoral peoples who depend largely on livestock and their products for a living. Due to a number of factors including frequent droughts, growing populations, increased sedentarisation and a change from traditional diet of milk/blood/meat to modern foods like maize, cooking fat, sugar and tea, nutritional deficiencies and food security are becoming serious issues. It has been seen, that during certain times of the year, there can be surplus of raw livestock resources, such as milk and good quality meat. Steps need to be taken to promote traditional and modern methods of preserving these surpluses for use during times of need, and develop food security products which can be produced in the villages using appropriate technology (Keya, 2001). Some of these products can also be used to increase income generation opportunities to create a greater financial base in pastoralist systems. This paper presents the work done with Salato Women s Group in Ngurunit Community located in Northern Kenya. The main objectives in the project were to: Establish a link between research and literature on milk / meat preservation techniques and the practical ability of pastoralist communities to use this information to produce products for food security and income generation. Enhance the capacity of self-help groups to start small scale milk / meat preservation enterprises on the community level. To develop suitable improved products through PTD (Participatory Technology Development) for community processing and use combining modern and traditional methods of meat / milk processing. The work was done at the community level with Salato Women s Group as the main entry point for participatory research. Supported by several partners, including KARI (Kenya Agricultural Research Institute), PEAR Group as a facilitating organization and a private sector consultant in appropriate technology, Salato Women s Group has developed enterprises based on the local community resources of milk and meat. These enterprises promote income generation and food security through new, improved and traditional products. Following are the initial steps taken to start the project, the work done in developing the products and enterprises, how the groups were empowered, the importance of passing on the information to other communities and the lessons learned about working in partnership to achieve sustainable development. INITIATION OF THE IDEA Participatory technology development (PTD) was used in researching appropriate and sustainable milk/meat preservation technologies that could be used in pastoralist areas by local communities. 2

3 Based mainly in Northern Kenya, this project was initiated in early 2001 by the following stakeholders: Salato Women Group (pastoralist community group), Ngurunit, Kenya. Salato Women Group consist of 104 pastoralist women, 98% of whom are illiterate and live in a completely traditional style. They started their group in 1995 to work together in improving their livelihoods through various group activities such as selling handicrafts, participating in a camel improvement project, holding seminars on issues such as environmental conservation, preventive health practices and business management and attending adult literacy classes. They have also been able to start several income generation enterprises including a tourist camp, a dairy and a meat processing facility, the later two through the PTD project in partnership with the other stakeholders. They provided the pastoralist community environment to practically develop and test products that they found useful and sustainable in their lifestyle. PEAR Group (Participatory Education, Awareness and Resources Group) Community Facilitator. PEAR Group is a Community Based Organization (CBO) working in the Arsim and Ngurunit Locations of Samburu and Marsabit Districts in Northern Kenya. PEAR Group works to act as a link between communities in Northern Kenya and organizations or individuals from outside the area who have interests in cooperating with the pastoralist communities in development, research or study. The five main focus areas of PEAR Group are Community Development, Research, Social Programs, Advising and Income Generation. Laura Lemunyete is the manager and main facilitator of community based activities. In this partnership, PEAR Group provided initial on-the-ground facilities for the PTD exercises and facilitation of the group activities involved. Private Sector Consultant (appropriate technology) The private sector consultant, Anne Bruntse, is experienced in small scale dairy development. She is skilled in milk and meat processing techniques using appropriate technology for community level enterprises. She was versatile in terms of developing various products, testing them with the group members and training them in specialized techniques involved in making the products. KARI (Kenya Agricultural Research Institute) KARI, through the EU/KARI coordination unit, provided the coordination and support for the entire project, working closely with the other partners to assist where needed, on both national and local levels. KARI personnel were also involved in expanding diary enterprise development part of the project to other pastoralist groups in Marsabit District once the initial pilot phase developed some suitable products. The aim of the Project was to utilize the information from a literature search of traditional meat/milk preservation methods carried out by KARI in 1999/2000 (Field, 2000) and make products that could be made and used practically by different pastoralist communities. It was thought that by using traditional knowledge from various pastoralist communities and combining it with modern technical practices, improved food security and income generation products acceptable to all pastoralist communities could be produced and the information disseminated. KARI coordinated the involvement of the various stakeholders. Salato Women s Group was looking for ways to improve the utilization of camel products from their camel improvement project and to start more income generation activities. PEAR Group was working with Salato Groups and seeking 3

4 links with other organizations to help them to meet their goals. The EU/KARI Coordinator met with PEAR group and discussed the possibilities in bringing the information from the literature search down to the ground in a community based research project. Contact was made with a private sector consultant who had expertise in small scale modern milk and meat processing techniques. Through meetings between these potential partners, the idea of implementing a milk / meat preservation technologies development project was conceived. An initial pilot phase was run from February to June 2001 in Ngurunit, Kenya. Due to the successes of this phase, KARI was able to coordinate the extension and expansion of the milk/meat preservation development process to continue through the 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 work plans. IMPLEMENTATION OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES 1. Participatory Technology Development (PTD) The technology development followed two main lines. One involved initial experiments by the appropriate technology expert before going to the community in the field, to test how modern cow milk processing methods could be adapted for use on camel milk, as well as testing some meat and hide recipes not previously tried out. Camel milk differs from cow and goat milk in a number of ways that affect processing, so recipes had to be adapted and new ones developed. Current literature on the topic was studied and experiments carried out to yield several new camel milk products as listed below. The second line of technology development directly involved the community, specifically Salato Group, being facilitated by PEAR Group. In this phase of the PTD, the technical expert, KARI staff, PEAR Group and Salato Women s Group worked together in the pastoralist environment of Ngurunit to test the various milk/meat preservation technologies, modern, traditional and combinations thereof. A number of viable products were identified in these field sessions. (Bruntse, 2001, 2002, 2003) These include: Dry brined camel cheese: new food security item Fresh cheese products: new income generation Camel cheese sweet (Milk sweet): new income generation and new food security item Cultured sour milk (Maziwa lala) from camel, cow and goat milk in plain and flavors: improved income generation Yoghurt: new income generation product Ghee from cow and camel milk: improved for income generation and food security item (cowtraditional, camel-new) Nyirinyiri and Lakuli (preserved fried meat product): improved for income generation and traditional food security item Sausages: new income generation Salami: being developed for food security Brined meat: being developed for food security Canned meat products: new income generation (final development stages) Skin tanning: being developed for income generation As the PTD process continued along the lines of making different food security and marketable products, especially with camel milk, several other components were added to the project as the need arose. It was seen that livestock health and milk quality were important issues, thus a milk hygiene expert/veterinarian from KCA (Kenyan Camel Association) made several visits to the project area to assess and improve community understanding of these issues. 4

5 Another major component that was added was marketing development. It was seen that the processing techniques are not the only important element of the project, but also what the end use and sales potential of these products can be. PEAR Group, also with the help of the technical expert, moved away from being purely a facilitator at the local level and has been working to help find market outlets. 2. Expansion In the course of the project, two other communities expressed interest in developing their cow milk resources for income generation purposes. KARI agreed to expand the project to include these communities for training them on simple, hygienic milk processing techniques to improve marketability of their resource. This cooperation has given valuable insights into different kinds of partnerships, and the level of involvement needed under different conditions. Furthermore, the KARI-Marsabit Station Laboratory was upgraded to provide milk hygiene testing as well as livestock disease screening in cooperation with the District Veterinary Office. Also this development is seen as a tool in the expansion of the project to other villages in the Northern Kenyan range lands. 3. Advantages of working in a partnership The experience of the partners in the continuing process of PTD for milk and meat preservation has been a very positive one. Each partner was able to bring skills and knowledge to the project that were invaluable in achieving the successes that were experienced. Foremost, Salato Women s Group was very important in providing the community base in which the actual technologies could be developed and tested such that it could be determined which processes were viable in the actual pastoralist conditions. Without them, it would have been impossible to assess the new and improved products in the actual pastoralist conditions and to determine that they were beneficial and sustainable in that environment. As the facilitator on the community level, PEAR group was able to act as a support in areas that were difficult for the Salato members to manage themselves, such as financial management and recording of the various activities. PEAR Group was able to empower the group through training in management, record keeping systems and organizing literacy classes(lemunyete 2002). PEAR Group was also involved greatly in the on the ground running of the project, as well as the continued promotion of marketing and quality control of products. KARI s role in coordination of the activities was a necessary part in the success of the project. They were able to connect the community with needed experts and staff assistance in needed subjects. From them came the indispensable contact with the Private Sector Consultant on Appropriate Technology and connections to the veterinarian who helped with livestock health issues. From the Appropriate Technology Consultant on small scale dairy and meat processing technologies, the main benefits in terms of improved food security and income generation products were realized. This partner was able to develop with the community valuable processing systems that have become the base of many other benefits, such as better nutrition, greater income generation potential and more hygienic products. 5

6 BENEFITS AND LESSONS LEARNED 1. Specific benefits to Salato Groups and Ngurunit Community A small dairy facility has been established in Ngurunit giving a better opportunity for pastoralists to sell their surplus milk. The women s group members also have an income generation source from this. A meat processing facility has been established in Ngurunit. This gives a market for pastoralists to sell male camels in the area. This has also provided a source of income for the women s group members. The proceeds from the dairy and meat house are split between the members that do the processing and the women s group account. This has led to 15 women having a regular income and the women s group funds increasing significantly. The group account funds accrued from the dairy and meat processing work have in turn been used as a grant to other group members to plan economic enterprises like honey processing and a bakery which will provide another 11 women with steady incomes. Literacy classes and training in management and record keeping has empowered the group to meet their goals. 2. Wider benefits of the project Besides developed food security and income generation products, many other benefits have been realized from the project. These include the following. Small dairy facilities have been developed in two other communities which have led to greater opportunities for pastoralists there to sell their surplus milk. This has led to the provision of good quality, hygienic products for the local communities as well as preserved products for outside markets. Through this, it has been realized that there is a great potential for the development of small scale dairies in any pastoralist area where regular milk surpluses exist. Exchange visits from neighboring communities to Ngurunit have empowered other communities to start using their meat/milk resources. There is a greater awareness of livestock health issues and their relation to milk quality as relates to diseases, such as Brucellosis, that can be passed on through unhygienic milk. Milk marketed in the processed form according to the developed technologies does not pose a public health risk. Several products have been developed as food security items raising the potential for better food security and nutrition during times of fresh milk and meat scarcity. Labor saving technologies such as the cream separator have been introduced. This technology also makes it possible to make other milk products not possible through traditional methods (such as camel ghee). Market development has been an important part of the project and has been successful in opening up new markets, both in terms of location and product types. 3. Specific lessons learned Some general principles have been discovered in the course of the project. It has been learned that technology development must be done on a holistic basis that looks at all levels from the initial materials to the final outcome of the technology. It is recognized that the value of the partnership is such that the different roles each plays must continue to evolve to meet the needs of the project as it evolves and changes in its emphasis. All members play a valuable part in the project and should participate to their fullest ability. 6

7 In one of the expanded projects there was a case of one partner dropping out midway. This caused difficulties in some activities for that project. All partners are indispensable. A higher level of literacy can speed up the adoption process of the technologies. All skills needed for the success of a project can easily be accessed through working in partnerships. NEXT STEPS 1. Dissemination of the processes The milk preservation part of the project has created a lot of interest throughout the country, with many organizations and communities making requests for help to set up similar small scale dairy projects in their areas. The big attraction being that the benefits of value added products stay right in the communities. Currently basic funding is being sought to accommodate these requests. But even where funding is not immediately available, some of the technologies are being spontaneously adopted on a local level. For KARI, the introduction of known improved technologies to pastoralist areas is a new one, being part of the new perception of research, where the pastoralists/farmers are to identify their problems, and work together with KARI to identify research and people who have experience with applied technologies to help solve these problems. KARI is steering towards a role of becoming a tool for the Kenyan farmer/pastoralist to feed all the population of Kenya, without having to rely on food-aid. Part of this activity will be channeled in to help initiate income generating projects at village level. Some of the specific technologies developed in the project, such as the different types of camel milk products, have received attention from camel keeping projects on the international level, such as in Somalia and UAE. Food security products have been developed, but the undertaking of the production of the same is so far limited the marketable products having received the bulk of the interest. However PEAR group is starting education on nutrition in Ngurunit and near by communities, and will incorporate these products in their new syllabus for adult education. The Salato women group members have made a plan to start adopting these food security items on a household level during future surplus periods. 2. Status of the partnership The milk/meat preservation technologies participatory research is continuing on into a last formal phase with KARI for the 2003/2004 year. In this phase, the main emphasis will be on how to continue the activities in a sustainable form indefinitely. Some technical issues, such as maintaining quality control and working on improved skin tanning, will also be pursued. From the experience of the partners so far, it has been seen that the current partnership is very productive and needs to be continued. There are still many things to be learned and discovered and each partner is gaining ever increasing strengths from their support of each other in the various activities. When the final project phase is over in June 2004, the partners will be able to keep up their partnership on an informal level to ensure continued growth into the future as new developments may come in the field of milk/meat preservation technologies. While the PTD methods have already resulted in many good benefits, the partners have learned that technology development is an ongoing process and they will continue to seek new and better ways of preserving the meat and milk products for greater food security and increased income generation opportunities. 7

8 3. Recommendations for involvement in future partnerships Research initiatives aimed at community related issues must have community based partners to ensure that the aims, activities and results of that research will be relevant and sustainable. When starting a project, it is essential to assess the capacities of all stakeholders for knowing what partners are beneficial to provide needed skills. All partners that embark on a specific research project must be committed to playing their part to the fullest of their abilities. It is very beneficial for each partner to understand the background and objectives of the partner(s) they are wanting to work with. Where the level of illiteracy is high, facilitation partners are essential. 8

9 PRINCIPAL PARTICIPANTS IN NGURUNIT PTD Melita Salato Dairy Enterprise Nankaya Lepitiling Christine Lepatoyie Ngarin Lepitiling Sultana Hussein Narose Lekalaile Kerisaba Lewano Salato Laramatak Meat Processing Enterprise Ntomulan Lesinia Ngowan Lengusuranga Yalunoi Leruk Mpatilian Learamo Nkuree Leruk Nkajoi Letipo Pose Lokuru Namayan Lemunyete Njamus Loibor Dr. Helga Recke Francis Wayua Amos Adongo Dr. Mario Younan EU/KARI Coordinator KARI Marsabit Food Technologist (pilot phase) KARI Marsabit Home Economist KCA Veterinarian Anne Bruntse Laura Lemunyete Appropriate Technology Consultant PEAR Group Manager Note that though these are the principle participants, many other people on the community and wider level have contributed to the success of this research effort. Everyone s involvement is greatly appreciated. Special thanks goes to the EU/KARI ARSP for the financial support to carry out this work. 9

10 REFERENCES Bruntse, A. (2001) Testing/demonstration of milk preservation technologies and assessment of viability of small scale dairy projects in Marsabit District. KARI/EC/ARSP Consultancy Report. June Bruntse, A. (2002) Testing/demonstration of milk and meat preservation technologies and assessment of viability of small scale dairy projects. KARI/EC/ARSP Consultancy Report. June Bruntse, A. (2003) Testing/demonstration of milk and meat/hides preservation technologies and assessment of viability of small scale dairy/meat projects. KARI/EC/ARSP Consultancy Report. February Field, C.R. (2000) Milk and meat preservation in pastoralist areas of Kenya. KARI/EC/ARSP/NRIL Consultancy Report. July Keye, G.A. (2001) Coping with drought: an overview of adaptive strategies against livestock losses by nomads of Northern Kenya. In: Proceedings of Animal Production Society of Kenya 2001 Annual Symposium held on 7 8 March at Egerton University, Ngoro, Kenya APSK Nairobi, Kenya. Lemunyete, L. (2002) Meat/Milk Preservation Project: KARI Cooperation with Salato Groups, Ngurunit Community, Facilitation by PEAR Group. Final Summary Report. KARI/EC/ARSP. June