BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND JUSTIFICATIONS

Efforts from within West African region to sustain agro-food production and processing have been limited by poor post-harvest which can be alleviated through development, pilot scale demonstration, adoption and dissemination of established innovative flash drying technology from Nigeria

OBJECTIVE

To promote efficient and proven drying technologies for sustainable food security and poverty alleviation in West Africa

EXPECTED BENEFICIARIES: Framers, Food Processors, Equipment Fabricators, Policy Makers, Scientists, Extension Officers, SMEs, Financers

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Scoping Studies, dissemination of brochures on constraints to drying, Sensitization Workshop, Flash Dryer, Pilot Scale Testing, Capacity Building and National Drying Policy Improvement

ACTIVITY/PROGRESS MADE SINCE PREVIOUS REPORT: 

1. Conduct scoping studies and gather baseline data on existing drying systems capacity training gaps and needs.

2. Questionnaire design with input from consultant.

3. Photocopying of  final questionnaires for the baseline data collection

4. Recruitment and training of national enumerators

5. Field data collection

WAY FORWARD:

1. Conduct scoping studies and gather baseline data on existing drying systems capacity training gaps and needs.

2. Report writing; national on “scoping studies and baseline data on existing drying systems capacity training gaps and needs”.

3. Publication of Regional Baseline Report on ““scoping studies and baseline data on existing drying systems capacity training gaps and needs”.

4. Develop brochures on constraints to drying systems and profitable investment

5. Publish the brochures on “constraints to drying systems and profitable investment”.

6. Pilot scale testing of the flash dryer equipment to determine; fuel use efficiency, power options, drying throughput, techno-economic viability in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Benin Republic.

7. Advertisement for flash dryer, graters, pressers procurement.

8. Opening of tender.

9. Supervise research students on value chain analysis and product quality using installed drying facility

WECARD

OBJECTIVES: 

To document indigenous knowledge of edible and medicinal mushrooms in four regions of Ghana

To characterize by phenotypic methods mushrooms collected from four forests in these regions

To determine the biochemical composition of these mushrooms in order to ascertain their biochemical components

To ascertain the quantity of antioxidants in the mushrooms

To cultivate five selected cultivable species on agricultural residues using the Juncao technology and plastic bag methods 

To transfer technology to 100 youths in the communities of the four regions 

WORK CARRIED OUT IN THE 2nd QUARTER, 2014

INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE OF EDIBLE AND MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS DOCUMENTED. 

Indigenous knowledge of edible and medicinal mushrooms in communities around the Ayum forest in the Brong Ahafo region and Bia Forest Reserve in the Western region have been documented. A total of 761 questionaires were administered. Some of the questions asked were their perceptions about mushrooms, any uses they know of, how they came about that information etc. The results of this survey are being analyzed for a report/publication. 

NUTRITIONAL AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF MUSHROOMS

Results for five cultivated mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus strain EM1, P. sajor-caju strain PscW, Lentinus squarrosullus strain LsF, Lentinus squarrosullus strain SqW, Auricularia auricula strain ApA) and two wild mushrooms (Termitomyces robustus strain TrA and Pleurotus tuber-regium strain PtA) sent to Mountain Research Centre (CIMO), ESA, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, apartado, Portugal for analysis on their nutritional and antioxidant activities were received and a paper titled ‘Evaluation of the chemical and antioxidant properties of wild and cultivated mushrooms of Ghana’ (Mary Obodai, Lillian Barros, Isabel C.F.R. Ferreira, Ângela Fernandes, Deborah L. Narh Mensah, Matilda Dzomeku, Arailde F. Urden, Juanita Prempeh, Richard K. Takli) has been submitted to Food Chemistry.

DATA ANALYSIS AND PUBLICATION

Narh Mensah DL, Obodai, M. (2014). Morphological characteristics of mycelia growth of two strains of the indigenous medicinal mushroom, Lentinus squarrosulus Mont.(Singer), on solid media. African Journal of Agricultural Research. 9(23):1753-1760. 

WAY FORWARD (3rd quarter)

Mushroom Germplasm collection at Bia Forest Reserve in the Western Region

Visit of Brazillian Partners to Ghana to conduct a training programme and also to be involved in the collection and identification of Mushrooms from Bia Forest Reserve

Use of the newly constructed grass cutting machine for cultivation of mushrooms using the JUNCAO technology

Cassava and yams are important food security crops in much of sub-Saharan Africa and also in Asia because their presence in the cropping system increases the resilience of farmers in the face of climate change, drought and fluctuations in the price of durable commodities. Post-harvest losses of cassava and yams are significant and come in three forms; physical losses, economic losses and from the biowastes. This project aims to reduce these three types of post-harvest losses in order to enhance the role that these crops play in food and income security for small-holder households. Cassava and yam are amongst the most improtant root crops, but differ in terms of their sale as fresh produce, the improtance of storage and the scale and importance of processing. This project will use these differences to develop a comprehensive aproach to reducing post-harvest losses with lessions that could be applied to other perishable commodities, delivering ouputs that will benefit millions of producing and consuming households across the developing world. A key approach to this project is to address both technical and socio-economic aspects of losses and waste management. In terms of the comprehensiveness of the approach, technologies and slystems will be developed, validated, demonstrated and more widely disseminated that focus benefits on small-holder households whilst offering increased income earning opportunities through the development of small to medium scale enterprises and provide an example of a linkage to a large scale user of cassava.

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