This Presentation was given by Professor Vincenzo Fogliano on 15 April 2019 for Dev Talks hosted by the OECD Development Centre.

1. Food Design in Developing Countries: How to
Combine Value Creation and Proper Nutrition
Vincenzo Fogliano
Food Quality & Design group University of Wageningen, The Netherlands
DEV TALKS OECD, Paris 15th April 2019

2. I collaborated and
received research
funding from many
food companies
Ongoing project with
Ferrero, Lactalis,
Unilever, Friesland
Campina, Bel, Danone
Nutricia.
2
Conflict of interests…

4. The NUFFIC (Dutch organisation for internationalisation in
education) program to upgrade the academic education of
governamental employees of target countries

6. Food design: the chain approach
Raw material
selection and
improvement
Formulation Identification
physiological
targets
Processing
technology
Consumer
behaviour

7. From technology-oriented to consumer-oriented
innovation in food design
Past: consumers bought
what was offered for sale
Now: Food Market saturation
Consequence: Consumers
decide according their needs
Price
Pleasure
Convenience
Healthiness

8. Problem of malnutrition and poverty
8

9. Aim: Promote food and nutrition security in Sub-Saharan Africa
ONU Sustainable development goals
Food design in Sub-Saharan African countries

10.  Benin «Red Sorghum colorant»
 Nigeria «Yellow Maize»
 Zimbabwe «Monkey Orange»
 Zimbabwe «Bambara»
Multi countries project on
“Traditionally fermented foods”
Some case studies of the past 5 years
10

11.  In Sub-Sahara Africa, Sorghum
bicolor most important cereal after
maize
 Sorghum bicolor: a resilient crop
 Sorghum grains: staple foods
 Sorghum bicolor grown for:
 Grains
 Red leaf sheaths
The red sorghum colorant in Benin

13. Food uses of sorghum biocolorant
Dyed koko
Fermented maize dough
Dyed wagashi
Soft cheese

14. Artificial red colorants
are stable too
However «natural»
red colorant (from
berries, red beet,
horseradish are NOT)
Red sorghum colorant is stable to high temperature!
14
a*
b
b
a
b
b
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Pateurisation
Cooking
Sterilisation
Pateurisation
Cooking
Sterilisation
Hot aqueous extract Alkaline extract
Remaining
apigeninidin(%)

15. Creation of the value chain…
 We develop the extraction procedure and several applications
in processed foods
 Beninese farmers cultivate and dry the sorghum leaves
 Sorghum colorant is produced by a leading (French) EU
company of the field and used in different products

16. Maize became a major staple crop
Zambia → >300 g person per day
Zimbabwe → ~300 g person per day
Nigeria/Ghana → ~100 g person per day
Improve maize nutritional quality is a major
target of nutritional policies in Africa

17. Breeders developed yellow maize varieties which
are a fantastic solutions to improve maize
cultivation and its nutritional quality!
Minera
l4
QPM
3
PVA
2
ProVitamin
A
Quality
Protein
Zinc/Iron
Agronom
y1
Yield
Disease
tolerance
Drought
resistance
...

18. 18
Low adoption
of the
improved
varieties!

19. Myth!
• Americans pee on it
• Food aid
Nigerian consumers’ strongly
prefer white maize

20. Strategies to increase long term adoption

22. Despite the excellent agronomic
and nutritional attributes
bambara seeds are largely
underutilised
Bambara ground nut the drought-tolerant legume
Agro-ecological regions of Zimbabwe

23. Several Landraces
Bambara ground nut the drought-tolerant legume
Bambara seeds became extremely hard after few weeks of
storage.
This is known as “Hard to cook” phenomenon ant it limits the
Bambara ground nut adoption

24. Survey on Processing techniques and products

25. Managing the hart to cook phenomenon
• Protein-rich Flours were
developed
• Intermediate products that can
contribute to key nutrients RDI
• Bambara flours are well
perceived by consumers abd can
be used as ingredient in many
local dishes
i ii
iii Iv
Raw Soaked
Soaked +
roasted
Dry
roasted

26. 26
Monkey Orange (Strychnos spp) a difficult-to-use fruit
A gummy
pulp sticks
to big seeds

27. Utilization of monkey oranges in a food chain perspective
27
Pectinase
addition
Reduction of starch
digestibility

28. Porridge with monkey orange juice has a reduced glycemic
index

29. These were past projects…
What’s next?

30. 30
Traditional fermented foods to promote
food and nutrition security in Africa

31.  Traditional fermented foods are underutilized
 Transformation of raw materials to safe and healthy foods
● Low cost technology
● Increased nutritional and commercial value
● Culturally embedded
● Opportunities for entrepreneurship and livelihoods
Why a project Focused on traditional fermented
foods in Africa

32. FERMENTED FOODS
to promote food and
nutrition security
CONSUMER
PROCESSING
PRODUCT
FUNCTIONALITY
ENTREPRENEURIAL
CONTEXT
MARKET ACCESS
1. Food
technology
2. Microbial
ecology
3. Business
development
NUTRITION
AND HEALTH
4. Interdisciplinary
integration

33. Three exemplary cases

34. Mabisi in Zambia
 Fermented milk product
 Widely produced in rural areas
 Uncontrolled fermentation
 Study system for microbial ecology
Building on previous work
34

35. Root research in context and reality
 Workshops
 Research questions and results
 High interest and enthusiasm
 Committed partners
Participatory research
35

36.  Academic partners, local universities
 International institutions
● HarvestPlus/CIAT/CIMMYT
● Heifer International
● Tropical Diseases Research Centre
Fermented food project partners
Outcome mapping
We are looking for
additional partners
(international institutions
and stakeholders)
Local institutional stakeholders
● Standards bureau’s
Practitioners
● Processors and producers
● Retailers

37.  Switch from «aid» to «empower»
 Foods adoption follows the same principle of consumers’ science also
among the poors
Vincenzo’s take home
37
 Technological solutions
are available
 Market segmentation is
creating opportunities
 Use the food chain
approach not just your
perspective!

38. Thank you for the attention
Vincenzo.fogliano@wur.nl
The WUR team “Food design in transition countries” Eddy
Smid
Sijmen
Schoustra
Juliet Mubaiwa
(Zimbabwe)
Folachode
Akogou
(Benin)
Anita
Linnemann
Ruth Ngadze
(Zimbabwe)
Onu Ekpa
(Nigeria)