daniel chigunwe
Mangaliso Lawrence Kabulika
TERTIARY institutions continue scaling up raw material value addition under the Government’s education 5.0.
The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development has called upon higher learning institutions to innovate and industrialise Zimbabwe.
Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE), University of Zimbabwe (UZ), Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) and Africa University among others displayed some products from their innovations at the recent Zimbabwe Agricultural Show.
BUSE is value-adding indigenous fruit masawu (ziziphus mautiana) into a range of products such as juice, wine, jam and sweets.
BUSE innovation hub food and lab supervisor Mrs Irene Chikanza said they were transforming raw undervalued indigenous fruits into valuable products for income generation for the locals of Dande community. The project started in August 2022.
“Through our local resources, we save the country the costs of importing these products. Local value addition has the added advantage of lowering the costs to customers as a 375-millilitre juice costs only US$0, 50 while a 750-millilitre wine is going for US$8,” she said.
The products also have a nutritional value which can boost the immune system.
“They have a high content of Vitamin C which has a lot of antioxidants responsible for boosting the immune system. They also have calcium and high fibre which helps in bowel movements as well as low cholesterol.
“As a university we are promoting organic food as we aim to move away from exotic processed products,” said Mrs Chikanza.
Mrs Chikanza also explained how they store the perishable masawu product and challenges they encounter.
“An ambient temperature of five degrees celsius is required. We store them at our workshops and cold rooms. Even though we store them at ambient temperatures, it easily develops worms which affect the quality of the fruit and the end product. The fruit loses moisture faster which depreciates its quality up until it hardens.
“We may require cold rooms from off the campus which may come at extra costs for the university,” said Mrs Chikanza.
BUSE also plans to commercialise the masawu products.
“Our plan is to distribute these products into the main markets across the country as currently its only available at the university and the surrounding community. A processing plant is being constructed in Muzarabani through Government assistance.
“We have equipment that we also received from the Government through the National Biotechnology Institute to produce these products,” she said.
Other tertiary institutions were value-adding raw agriculture commodities such as sweet potato, pumpkins and banana into sweet potato bites, pumpkin and banana bread among others.
CUT has also upscaled Black Soldier Fly (BSF) meal production project that was meant to produce protein reach feed for fish, rabbit, poultry and pig using larvae from BSF.
UZ also showcased their value addition prowess through production of chips made from traditional grains such as sorghum and millet.
Online Reporter
dyton mupawaenda