About
Deficiencies in
vitamins and minerals in human nutrition and waste of fruits and
vegetable along the value chain are major constrains in Sub-Saharan
Africa. Seasonality and long distances between production areas and
potential consumption centres further contribute to the problem.
Therefore, the major aim of the three-year FruVaSe project is to
improve nutrition and economically empower women in East Africa
through improved, sustainable processing of highly nutritious
surplus fruits and vegetables (FVs) and their by-products in a
life-cycle approach.
The specific
objectives of the project are:
-
Retain nutritional value, shelf-life and food
safety of healthy, nutritious, affordable products.
-
Reduce seasonality of food insecurity and
food and nutrient losses.
-
Investigate the impact of processing
techniques on selected fruits and leafy vegetables in form of
e.g. juices, long-keeping relishes, concentrated pastes,
additives to drinks, and smoothies with respect to storability,
vitamins and micronutrients content and consumers’
acceptability.
-
Develop processing technologies in a
resource-efficient autonomous systems approach considering the
life cycle concept for organic material and water (water
re-use).
-
Establish a model pilot site, adapted to the
local conditions and integrating the optimized technologies.
The expected
results of the project related to food and nutrition security as
well as income security for woman in rural areas are as follows:
-
Nutrition security and diversity are improved by enhancing the
availability and consumer acceptance of processed local FV’s and
their products
-
Energy-autonomous autonomous (renewable energies),
resource-efficient processing techniques based on a life-cycle
approach and water re-use are available ensuring the use of
surplus FV’s for processing and reducing seasonal gaps of
nutrient supply and income.
Work packages
WP 1 Processing and
preservation of fruits and their by-products,
nutrient-retention and shelf-life period
WP 2 Processing and
preservation of green leafy vegetables, nutrient-retention
and shelf-life period
WP 3 Food patterns and KAP
of consumption of selected processed fruits and vegetables
WP 4
Resource-efficient, energy-autonomous fruit and vegetable
processing
WP 5
Marketing of fruit and vegetable products including packaging,
marketing channels and consumer acceptance
Consortium
FruVaSe encompasses two German
Universities (UGOE, EUAS) and four East African Universities in
Tanzania (NM-AIST), Uganda (MUG), and Kenya (UoN, UoE), as well as
national and international associated partners.
NM-AIST |
Nelson Mandela Institute of Science and
Technology, Arusha, Tanzania |
|
The
School of Life Sciences and Bio-Engineering (LiSBE) |
http://www.nm-aist.ac.tz/pages/lisbe.php
|
Department of Food Biotechnology and Nutritional Sciences |
www.nm-aist.ac.tz |
The
School of Materials, Energy, Water and Environmental
Sciences (MEWES) |
www.nm-aist.ac.tz |
MUG |
Makerere
University, Kampala, Uganda |
|
School of Food Technology, Nutrition & Bio-Engineering |
http://sftnb.mak.ac.ug/index.php/2-uncategorised/3-welcome-to-the-school-of-food-technology-nutrition-and-bio-engineering.html
|
Department of Agricultural and Bio Systems Engineering |
http://caes.mak.ac.ug/departments/department-of-agricultural-bio-systems-engineering.html
|
Department of Food Technology & Nutrition |
http://caes.mak.ac.ug/departments/department-of-food-tech-and-human-nutrition.html
|
UoN |
University of
Nairobi, Kenya |
|
Department of Food Science, Technology and Nutrition |
http://foodtech.uonbi.ac.ke/ |
Department of
Animal Production |
http://animalproduction.uonbi.ac.ke/ |
Department of
Plant Science and Crop Protection |
http://plantscience.uonbi.ac.ke/ |
UoE |
University of
Eldoret, Kenya |
|
Department of Seed, Crop and Horticultural Sciences |
http://www.uoeld.ac.ke/ |
EUAS |
Erfurt
University of Applied Sciences |
|
Faculty of
Landscape Architecture, Horticulture, Forestry, Chair Plant
Production and Climate Change |
https://www.fh-erfurt.de/lgf/ga/ |
UGOE |
Georg-August-University of Göttingen |
|
Division
Quality of Plant Crops, Department of Crop Sciences
(project lead) |
http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~uaac/fruvase01.htm |
Division Agricultural Engineering, Department of Crop
Sciences |
https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/84968.html |
Division Marketing for Food and Agricultural Products,
Department of Agricultural Economy and Rural Development |
https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/11226.html
|
Geoscience Center University of Göttingen
Dept. Applied Geology |
https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/8483.html
|
|