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- Women producing enriched porridge in Suriname
Wi! Uma Fu Sranan is a female agriculture cooperative (with 32 members) in Suriname, empowering and creating work for inland women. PUM experts in the fields of food processing and health care nutrition have advised the client’s social enterprise SURIVIT since 2016 in the development of an enriched cassava porridge for babies in the age of 6 months – 2 years. The client recently received a grant from PUM’s Hans Blankert Fund and now launched their enriched porridge for babies, which is another major step in the history of Wi!
Wi! Uma Fu Sranan is a social and economic female agriculture cooperative, led by entrepreneur Tania Lieuw-a-Soe: “Our mission is to sustainably grow and process, market and deliver high value healthy products, whilst making a positive impact on the inland women’s social and economic standard of living, their communities and their local environments. Wi!’s values focus on gender equality, community & environment, social entrepreneurship, and partnerships & win-win.”
First contact with PUM
Wi! contacted PUM for the first time, because they were exploring the possibilities of improving their cassava porridge ‘Kokori’ and investigating other products for the market in Suriname. Country coordinator Roos Stolker: “Rural women in Suriname have often been raised on energy food sources such as cassava. Through Wi! they joined forces to transform this cassava root crop into high-value products that are gluten-free, healthy, and sustainable. Domien Bruinsma was the first PUM expert to visit the client on location and from then on he has always been involved. Back in 2016, he came with the client to the conclusion that both weaning food porridge and bread were cassava products that could successfully be improved.” The bread was followed up in a FAO project and the weaning food was followed up with PUM. In a parallel project, the client also developed pancake flour with PUM Bakery expert Jan Koeman. Domien was in Suriname again conducting some tests with porridges of different composition including soy and rice to enrich the product. An important advantage is that no milk (powder) is needed when preparing this porridge. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Domien and fellow expert Gerard van Laarhoven did some tests and gave remote advice on further specifications about the product formulation and process design.
Processing facility
Thanks to the (financial) support of various international organisations, Wi! was able to open their new processing facility. Domien continues: “I continued to support Wi! with fellow expert Henk Afman. We advised them on different aspects of the formula development and processing technology to improve the baby porridge ‘Kokori’. We also supervised a student from Wageningen University & Research who undertook additional research. Finally, we arranged for a grant of PUM’s Hans Blankert Fund, which enabled Wi! to purchase a blending device and some lab equipment.”
Launching the enriched Kokori
Domien again visited the client on location: “It is important to emphasise that the baby food Kokori follows the cassava tradition of the Marron people. In April, during the test production of enriched Kokori, I advised the women of SURIVIT on how to enrich the porridge with mainly local ingredients to increase the percentage of protein, fat and micronutrients. I also gave them instructions on how to use the blending device to mix these ingredients including a micro-nutrient powder. For this advice I used also the input of my colleagues Henk Afman and Annemarie Hoogendoorn.”
Domien’s stay was partly planned together with the visit of Annemarie who as a nutrition expert has been involved: “At the start, I have shared my nutritional knowledge, including on the recipe and micronutrient enrichment, the requirements concerning label information and the WHO guidelines on promotion of infant and toddler nutrition. I focused on strengthening links with the Ministry of Health and Medical Mission to inform them on the enriched Kokori; further developing the product label; and implementing simple nutrition education in combination with product promotion activities in some Marron villages.”
The product was first presented in a few villages in the interior of Surinam and to the Granman of the Marron. Domien and Annemarie attended the launch of the enriched Kokori in Paramaribo, in the presence of the Director of Public Health.
Impact and future
It is at the heart of Wi! to be a responsible organisation and have a positive impact on both people and the planet. Skills training, awareness activities, and international events have changed the women’s attitude and given them the necessary confidence and income. The introduction of nutrition technologies, as applied in the enriched Kokori, and nutrition education might help to transform the traditional inland dietary patterns and traditional food systems to secure food safety and well-being.
PUM will continue to support Wi! whenever they need specific knowledge in the field of food processing, healthcare and nutrition, and marketing. For example, PUM expert Bart van Schie will advise the client concerning detoxification of cassava flour.
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