The FoodLAND Africa team from SUA participated in the Farmers’ Day. In Swahili, it is called Nane-Nane (meaning eight-eight, this is because it is held on the 8th in the eighth month of the year) that is why Farmers Day is celebrated in Tanzania on the 8th of August every year.  Different organizations and institutions in Tanzania participate in Farmers’ Day by having exhibition of services or products for improving agriculture productivity in various value chains.  This year, the FoodLAND team from SUA took part where we showcased the innovative technologies developed from the project. This was done as part of the dissemination and communication of project findings and technological innovations. We had an exhibition booth showing technological innovations related to this year’s theme titled “Choose the best Local Government Leaders for Sustainable Development of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries”. The exhibition took place at Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere Grounds in Morogoro, serving the Eastern zone, which includes the regions of Dar es Salaam, Pwani, Tanga, and Morogoro.

Our booth had leaflets, posters and packages of flour ready for selling as well as testing. Also,  we showcased the bio-based packaging materials from pineapple waste. The project presentation was done jointly in collaboration with Katundu Traders and Milling (KTM) to showcase those innovations.

We received positive feedback from the organizing team and from the farmers who visited our booth. They were excited to see bio-based packaging materials and fortified flour for normal and instant porridge.

Also, we had good remarks from secondary students who tested the porridge made from composite flour made of cereals and legumes formulated by the project in our booth.  SUA FoodLAND team and Katundu Traders and Milling (KTM) as well as other university units contributed to SUA being a second winner for Higher Education institutions – https://suamedia1994.blogspot.com/2024/08/kitumieni-vizuri-chuo-kikuu-cha-sua-ili.html.

One remarkable outcome of the exhibition is that secondary teachers from SEGA School (Secondary Education for Girls’ Advancement) have requested our assistance in advising them on how to create similar flour formulations for their students to use for breakfast. For more information about SEGA girls secondary school, please visit SEGA School – https://sega.or.tz/about/.

It is our promise that the FoodLAND team from SUA with our project partner Katundu Traders and Milling (KTM) will visit SEGA and fulfill this promise. The good news is that SEGA already has milling machines and ingredients for making flour for their students. What they need is the expertise and skills to formulate flour that will be used by their students. They wanted to have a similar formulation to that made by the SUA FoodLAND team and Katundu Traders and Milling (KTM).