EVENT TITLE: CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING WORKSHOP IN FINDING, REUSING AND PRESENTATION TITLE: Nutrition potential of local staple food; what is hindering local people from accessing such information and recommendations. WORKSHOP DATE: 09th January to 10th January 2018 WORKSHOP VENUE: Mukono District Local Government Headquarters, Mukono District, Uganda SUMMARY: A staple food, food staple, or simply a staple, is a food that is eaten routinely and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for a given people, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and generally forming a significant proportion of the intake of other nutrients as well.

1. ‘ADVOCATING FOR INFORMATION ACCESS TO
BOOST NUTRITION POTENTIAL OF LOCAL STAPLE
FOODS’
GODAN-Sponsored Capacity Building Training Workshop in Finding, Reusing and Publishing
Open Nutrition Data Workshop; 9-10th January, 2018
Evas Julie Tibagonzeka

2. Why are we here today?
Nutrition and nutritional
deficiencies Nutrition Potential of Staple foods
Factors affecting the
nutrition potential of
staple foods
Which and where is the
information that can boost
the nutrition potential of
staple foods?
How to boost the nutrition potential of
staples through information access.
Why are people not able
to access the
information?

3. WHAT IS NUTRITION?
❖Nutrition - The subject of nutrition is concerned with how people stay alive and well
by consumption of food. It includes how people obtain their food, how it is processed,
handled, prepared, shared, eaten and with what happens in the body- how it is
digested, absorbed and used by the body to contribute to good health.
❖A balanced diet contributes to good nutrition because it has all nutrients necessary
for proper body functioning.
❖Nutrients - Nutrients are small parts of food that the body uses for various body
functions.
• Proteins from “grow foods”/body building foods-for building body tissues.
•Carbohydrates from “go foods”/energy giving foods -for producing energy.
• vitamins and minerals from “glow foods” or fruits and vegetables for fighting
infections
❖Each nutrient has a Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA)

4. 48
45 45
38
33
29
20
22
19
16
14
11
3
7
5 6 5 4
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1988/89 DHS 1995DHS 2000/01DHS 2006DHS 2011DHS 2016DHS
Trend in nutrition status
Stunting Underweight Wasting
Available data for Uganda
showing nutrition deficiencies

6. The Nutrition Security Framework
importance of food prices to overall nutrition
Diet costs have exceeded the poverty line

9. What are staple foods?
• A staple food, food staple, or simply a staple, is a food that is eaten routinely and in
such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for a given
people, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and generally forming a significant
proportion of the intake of other nutrients as well.
• Cooking bananas, cassava, dry beans, sweet potatoes, rice, millet, and sorghum are the
main staple foods in Uganda, in terms of area planted and production volume (UBOS
2014; UBOS 2010).
• Maize is produced as both a staple food and cash crop and exported to regional
markets.

10. Potential of staple food

11. 1. Seasonal production pattern
• Seasonal production patterns for these crops plays a major role in availability and trade
flows.
• Most food production in Uganda takes place at the smallholder and subsistence level, under
rain fed conditions, and with low use of agricultural inputs. The resulting productivity levels
are generally low.
• The majority of the country benefits from two rainy seasons during the year (each with
precipitation above 500 mm), allowing for two maize, beans, millet, and sorghum harvests.
• Cassava, cooking bananas, and sweet potatoes are harvested and marketed throughout the
year (FEWS NET 2010).
• Many of the northern districts of Uganda experience only one rainy season during the year
and are prone to drought.

13. Plan and prepare before harvesting
Also includes;
• Cleaning the
storage
• Cleaning the
bags to be
used in
transporting
harvested
maize

14. Harvest on time and harvest right
• Harvest when the crop is mature - some cobs start to droop; leaves should
be yellow, stems of plants are brownish and yellow, bean pods turn yellow
• Avoiding extensive field drying
• Avoid breakage of grain- while harvesting, gently pile the cobs to minimize
damage to grain
• Harvest before the rains
• Put the harvest cobs on a tarpaulin or off the ground while harvesting

15. Transportation Place the harvest in bags or containers
during transport to prevent spillages
e.g. whole Nylon bags (not torn), Jute bags without
holes and well covered baskets
The containers used should be clean.
Transport crops from field for further drying
immediately after harvest.
During transportation, care should be taken
to avoid grain damage, breakage and
spillage.

16. Drying
• Dry produce on mats, tarpaulins or
racks.
• Ensure the farm animals are kept
away and losses are reduced.
• Produce should be spread thinly
(about 2 cm thick)
Drying rack

17. Don’t let drying produce get wet, cover with a tarpaulin if it rains.
Use a maize drying crib for protected drying
Moisture
meter
Dry produce adequately- <13.5%.

18. Shelling/Threshing
Manual Palm sheller
Motorized sheller
Hand shelling
Shelling should not be done bare ground
to prevent losses due to spillages and
contamination
Shelled grain should be put into clean
spillage-proof containers or preferably
bags
Dry produce further if it is above the
required moisture content

19. Cleaning
Proper cleaning should be done to;
Remove foreign matter, extraneous matter, insect damaged, moldy grain, etc.

20. Storage

22. Reducing Risk of pest/disease infestation
Bruchid infested beans Maize infested by weevils

23. Postharvest handling- What is it?
Postharvest Stage just after harvesting a crop
Postharvest
Handling
All activities or stages done
immediately following harvest of crop
Give examples
of postharvest
activities/stages

24. Why worry about postharvest handling?
OR
OR
OR
OR
Food security
Food
insecurity

25. Postharvest losses
Measurable reduction in
foodstuffs, which may
affect quantity or quality
What are they?
Physical
losses
Weight loss
• Commercial
loss
• Safety &
health
concerns
Quality
losses
Contaminatio
n & Spoilage
Nutritional

27. Current postharvest losses
• FAO estimates postharvest losses for grains and tuber crops in developing countries to be 10-15 and 20-25%,
respectively.
• These figures are quite high and point to the high potential of improved postharvest handling towards
improvement of food security.
• Postharvest losses are associated with: late harvest, insufficient produce drying, poor threshing methods, poor
storage conditions, inappropriate transportation, use of defective packaging, and infestation by moulds, insects,
rodents and other pests.
• Information about the linkage of crop varieties grown, weather conditions during production, harvest and drying,
postharvest handling methods, market needs, traditional habits and local perceptions of quality to post harvest
losses by small holder farmers is scanty.
• Understanding of this information is important in the design of interventions aimed at reducing postharvest
losses.
• It is also important to determine the postharvest handling knowledge, attitudes and practices of small holder
farmers, as a starting point towards designing effective interventions.
• The role of the task force….

29. Improving the quality and safety of staple foods
• Currently, quality problems such as mycotoxin (aflatoxin) contamination are widespread and
these negatively impact on the health of local communities especially children whose immunity
is not yet well developed.
• Our staples are very susceptible to aflatoxins whose major habitat is soil
• Through application of improved postharvest handling, storage and processing technologies,
the taskforce is anticipated to reduce the levels of mycotoxins in food supply chain thereby
improving the quality and safety of locally produced foods.
• This is likely to contribute to reduction in disease burden and improvement in nutrition.
• What are these aflatoxins?

30. Aflatoxins: Poison hiding in plain
sight
Occurrence in Uganda reported in:
 Maize and ground nuts (Kaaya & Kyamuhangire, 2006; Kaaya et al., 2005; Kaaya and Warren, 2005; Kaaya
et al., 2002)
 Cassava chips (Kaaya and Eboku, 2010)
 Sorghum (Muyonga et al., 2014)

31. Introduction- What are they?
Aflatoxins:
❑ Toxic secondary metabolites
❑ Naturally occurring hepatocarcinogens
❑ Produced by aflatoxigenic molds in the genus Aspergillus (Klich, 2007;
Williams et al., 2004)
Aspergillus species: are rapidly growing molds found mostly in moist soil and
decaying matter
❑Aspergillus flavus & Aspergillus parasiticus
(Klich, 2007; Kaaya and Warren, 2005)

32. Pre-disposing factors

33. Why worry about
aflatoxins?
Health
Trade
Rejection
Losses
• Aflatoxicosis
• Carcinogenic & mutagenic (Bren et al.,
2007;Williams et al., 2004)
• Liver cirrhosis
• Hepatocarcinoma
• Cerebral oedema
• Fatty liver and Kidneys
• Pulmonary oedema
• Immune suppression
• Stunting (Williams et al., 2004).
Case:The outbreak in January to July, 2004 in Eastern and
Central provinces of Kenya (CDC, 2004)- 125 deaths.
http://www.liver.ca/liver-disease/types/cirrhosis/

34. Why worry about aflatoxins?
• In the tropics and sub-tropical regions: ambient conditions for mold growth &
aflatoxin production
• Large proportion of production by smallholder farmers
• Problem in disposing off
• Resistance to processing
• Susceptibility of several commodities- staples
Concern:
Long-term exposure to low levels of aflatoxins
Quantities consumed (allowable limits 20ppb by FDA/WHO)

35. Why worry about aflatoxins?
• Likelihood of contamination through seed and soil
• High rate of the production and mold growth
• Not easily detectable by visual methods unless in extremely high quantities
• not practical to try a complete removal of aflatoxins in foodstuffs, in order to make
them safer.
• Gap in implementation and compliance to policies and standards

36. What can be done?
Pre-harvest
Field Storage
Post
harvest
Animal farm/Industry
Risk
assessment
Risk
assessment
Processing
Retailers
Risk assessment
Consumption

37. Enhancing nutritional value of staples
• Individual grain and tuber crops, consumed alone have nutritional gaps…low in proteins, vitamins and
minerals.
• The role of the task force should be to seek to develop nutritious mixtures by blending different
crops and appropriately processing them to promote nutrient bioavailability.
• The taskforce will apply inexpensive technologies suitable for community level application with the aim
of addressing the demand by poorer sections of society for low cost nutritious foods.
• The high prevalence of malnutrition among children in resource constrained communities is
attributable to the absence of inexpensive weaning foods specially designed for children.
• This taskforce will address this problem by applying locally adaptable technologies to local staples to
produce foods that are nutritionally well balanced, low in anti-nutritional factors and high in energy.
This will help address the problem of malnutrition.
• The taskforce will also facilitate community processing of grains and tuber crops into diverse products,
contributing to dietary enrichment and helping to reduce monotony. Food processing and preservation
is key to increasing shelf life.

38. 3.97
7.16
8.63
11.3
11.76
13.9
14.3
14.6
14.8
15.79
16.04
21.3
21.99
23.1
24.95
34.5
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
CASSAVA FLOUR (1)
SWEET POTATO FLOUR (1)
MILLET FLOUR (1)
MAIZE (1)
SORGHUM FLOUR (1)
MAIZE PLUS BEANS (7:3)
MAIZE PLUS GREEN PEAS (7:3)
MAIZE PLUS MUNGBEANS (7:3)
MAIZE PLUS BEANS PLUS SOY BEANS (7:2:1)
MAIZE PLUS BEANS PLUS SOY BEANS (7:1.5:1.5)
MAIZE PLUS BEANS PLUS SOY BEANS (7:1:2)
GREEN PEAS
MAIZE PLUS SOYBEANS (7:3)
MUNG BEANS (1)
ROASTED BEAN FLOUR (1)
SOYBEANS
Protein content%

39. Enhancing value to producers
• Farm gate prices of agricultural produce tend to be low. Some of the reasons for low farm gate
prices include high produce perishability, seasonal abundance, urgency to sale in order to
meet household needs, lack of market information, lack of product differentiation, weak market
linkages and low produce volumes.
• By promoting appropriate postharvest handling and processing, this taskforce will help to
stabilize agricultural produce, giving farmers the option of selling when prices are more
competitive. Produce can be stored in silos safely for a long time until price are high enough.
• The taskforce will also enhance the capacity of farmers to improve the quality of their produce,
helping them gain access to high value markets. Through promotion of community-level
processing, the taskforce will enable farmers create more stable and high value products
which attract higher revenue than the sale of raw produce.
• By promoting value addition, the taskforce also has potential to contribute to diversification of
income sources for farmers.
• Processing could also create more acceptable and more convenient products. Local
processing will permit the retention of by-products in production areas, which will be available
for use as manure or household energy….eg matooke peels for briquettes.

40. Establishing/strengthening the market
information system of staples
• Build Markets and Trade Knowledge base
• Establish market monitoring plan
• Monitor and analyze markets and prices
• Provide timely inputs to integrated food security analysis and decision-support
• Credit information

41. The task force needs to do the following:
(i) reviewing and revising training institutions’ curricula to improve the food and nutrition education
components;
(ii) encouraging the establishment of demonstration farms or gardens in schools and other institutions;
(iii) organizing food and nutrition promotion activities such as agricultural shows and demonstrations of
food preparation;
(iv) developing and coordinating coherent food and nutrition IEC materials from the national to the
community levels;
(v) strengthening information and communication on food and nutrition by promoting literacy campaigns;
(vi) mobilizing communities to identify and solve their food and nutrition problems through mass media,
clubs, groups and theatre for development; and
(vii) establishing a food and nutrition training center of excellence.

42. Food, Nutrition and Surveillance
• The goal of the task force in the area of food and nutrition surveillance is to have a monitoring system in
place that will provide timely information that will be used to stabilize the food and nutrition situation in
the district. This goal shall be achieved through:
✓establishing sentinel sites for the collection of data on food and nutrition;
✓training relevant personnel and communities in data management for improving their food and nutrition
situation;
✓ publishing and disseminating regular reports on the food and nutrition situation at all levels;
✓providing timely information on food and nutrition for rational decision-making at all levels;
✓establishing a coordinated district food and nutrition information network; and
✓maintaining an effective weather monitoring system covering sub-county and district and levels.

43. Research
• Effective promotion of good nutrition has to be based on reliable data.
• This information has to be generated from research covering both the food supply side (production) and utilization aspects.
• It needs to cover the nutrient content of food, food consumption, food habits and nutrition related disease patterns.
• Knowledge gaps have been identified in the areas of food security and nutrition.
• These should be researched and priority research areas should be linked to activities that benefit the Mukono district population.
This goal shall be achieved through:
❑ training personnel in research;
❑ conducting action-oriented research for the improvement of food security and nutrition of the population;
❑ mobilizing resources for research; and
❑ publishing research findings.

44. Way forward
• To develop guidelines for postharvest handling of major grain and tuber crops. These can be compiled in
form of manuals, translated in local languages and disseminated.
• To gather pre and post harvest knowledge, attitudes and practices. The information gathered on the pre
and postharvest knowledge, attitudes and practices can be used to design a behavioral change strategy
which can be applied to promote improved postharvest handling. Specifically, farmer training in postharvest
handling will be undertaken as one of the strategies to promote improved crop postharvest handling.
• To develop guidelines on pre and post harvest handling of major staples. These Guidelines developed
for postharvest handling of major crops should be disseminated among farmer groups as well as to
agricultural extension agents operating in the project areas.
• Training of trainers will be undertaken based on these guidelines to promote widespread diffusion of the
skills. Video clips can also be recorded and used in training. In addition, appropriate structures recommended
for postharvest handling will be erected and used as demonstration points.

45. Way forward
• Developing processing methods for production of nutritious foods which can also be disseminated to
farmers through farmer groups is very key to ensure that only appropriate methods are promoted, the
Formulations for nutrient rich processed products derived from staple grain and legume crops that address dietary
gaps. These can be tested and disseminated
• Appropriate postharvest handling equipment/structures (dryers, threshers, graters etc.) for all the major
grains and tuber crops can be developed and disseminated to smallholder farmers.
• Extension agents can be trained in postharvest handling as well as in processing of nutrient rich products.
• Training of artisan fabricator in fabrication of postharvest equipment and facilities.
• Popular publications, including brochures and policy briefs showing the importance of postharvest handling and
community level processing.
• scholarly publications.

46. Thank you
‘Destiny by Choice’