IDRC Enset Project

Enset is a multipurpose crop with huge potential to alleviate food insecurity problems in the era of unpredictable climate change. However, the plant has not been utilized to its full potential due to poor production systems and less attention given to the plant. Efforts have been made to modernize enset processing, fermentation and value-addition. These efforts showed promising results at pilot scale on labor reduction, food quality improvement, reduction of post-harvest loss and modernizing enset based-food preparations. The pilot scale efforts need to be expanded and benefit a larger portion of enset growing communities in four regions of Ethiopia. Thus, the purpose of this project proposal is to seek financial support to produce, popularize and commercialize value-added enset-based food products using improved enset processing technologies. To this end, community based enset processing pilot plants will be established in four regions of Ethiopia, namely Oromia, Sidama, Southern and South-western Ethiopia. The pilot sites will be established in collaboration with Regional Agricultural Bureaus. Farmers Training Centers (FTCs) will be used as a main site for the establishment of the processing hub. Also, improved enset processing machines will be produced at Arba Minch University and will be delivered to the pilot sites in consultation with the Regional Agricultural Bureaus. Furthermore, training will be provided for enset growing farmers and unemployed youth on machine operation, preparation of value-added enset-based food products and commercializing the products to the local and international markets. Besides, to improve the nutritional and market values of enset-based food products, a fortification experiment will be conducted at Arba Minch University in collaboration with other national research centers. Amaranth, Chick-pea, Moringa, and other locally available plants will be used to prepare nutritious enset-based food products. The physicochemical, microbial, nutritional and functional properties of the fortified food products will be investigated at Arba Minch University and Ethiopian Conformity Assessment Enterprise. Also, popularization of the technologies and food products will be performed in collaboration with the federal, regional, zonal and district level stakeholders. Arba Minch Agricultural Support Service (AMASS) Plc will be the main collaborator in formulation and standardization of the recipe for the enset-based food products. AMASS is willing to provide its 400m2 food processing pilot plant for this project purpose. Finally, the standardized and validated enset-based food product will be commercialized to the local and international market.