Ivory Coast | Honduras | Mozambique | Senegal | Botswana | Kenya | Afghanistan | Guyana | Indonesia | Republic of Georgia | India | Mexico

The following are a few examples of successful WISHH pilot projects with the cooperation of PVOs and private industry initiatives to process soy for human consumption. The INTSOY program at UIUC provided assistance to some of the projects by setting up the production facility, including purchase of supplies and equipment.

Each school has a cook and a manager. The cook prepares the meals for the school children. The manager is responsible for managing the budget, including the expenditures and receipts. WFP donates the following items per pupil: rice (150 grams), lentils (30 grams), and oil (10 grams). The school purchases any additional foods that it may want to include along with the WFP contribution. Depending on the school, this may include such food items as vegetables (onions, tomatoes, okra, cabbage, carrots are common), canned fish, dried fish, or “Maggi” cubes (meat flavoring cubes). It is common for the schools to have about 150 pupils. The school lunch is not free. The cost to the pupil is 25 CFA. For more information on the WISHH pilot project in the Ivory Coast, contact Jim Hershey, WISHH Director, at wishh@asaim.soy.org, phone: 314/576-1770.

CARE in collaboration with WFP, ASONAPVSIDAH, and the Ministry of Health has developed a program to improve care and support services for PLWA (People Living with AIDS). WISHH has added a nutrition component to this program to demonstrate health benefits of soy protein for PLWA. Three-hundred PLWA families, receiving antiretroviral, are participating in the WISHH nutrition study. Two soy products, defatted soy flour (DSF) and textured soy protein (TSP), are being distributed to the beneficiaries for a period of one year. This is in addition to the basic food basket donated by the WFP, which consists of rice, corn meal, red beans, sugar, flour, and vegetable oil. Baseline data was collected at the beginning of the study. Data is being collected periodically during the study and final data collection will take place at the end of the project year.

CARE distributes food to approximately 7,500 families through Hogasa Mother-Child Care Program funded by the USAID. These families were perceived to have a high risk of infant and child malnutrition. CARE ration consists of corn flour, red beans, rice and some corn soy blend. WISHH is working with CARE to demonstrate the suitability of soy protein products for this program. Three hundred and thirty six families from the HOGASA beneficiaries are participating in this study. Each family is receiving DSF and TSP for a four month period. The project is being carried out in three communities representing three municipalities, one each in the La Paz, Intibucá and Lempira departments.

About 50% of children 12 and under suffer from malnutrition in Honduras. To combat this problem, the WFP is partially funding, through food product donations, a school lunch program in Honduras, which is managed by the Office of the President. In 2003, they are feeding 300,000 children through this program; the number is expected to go double in the near future. WISHH, at the request of the Office of the President, had conducted a cost/benefit analysis of adding soy protein products – TSP and defatted soy flour – to fortify the current school rations. Convinced of the benefits of soy protein, the Office of the President proposed a pilot program to incorporate soy protein to children’s diet. Approximately 1,000 school children in the rural municipality of San Francisco de la Opalasca are participating in the pilot. The pilot will run for one academic year. The pilot will not only demonstrate consumer acceptance of soy protein products, but will also show how to logistically incorporate a new commodity in the geographically widely dispersed school lunch program.

Zamrano has been working with WISHH on the development of soy-enhanced school snacks. They are in the process of expanding their food processing pilot plant. In the meanwhile, the National Soybean Research Laboratory (NSRL) at the University of Illinois is providing product development training to their students at its pilot plant. During 2003, a student from Zamarano developed a soy-enhanced pudding during his training at NSRL. The pudding was tested with the students in Honduras and was well accepted. WISHH is now exploring feasibility of using this product for mid-day snack in schools. For more information on the Honduras project, contact Pradeep Khanna at the National Soybean Research Laboratory at pkhanna@uiuc.edu phone: 217/244-1706.

Mozambique
Humana People to People is a European non-governmental organization operating in more than 32 countries worldwide. In March 2000, Humana started the TCE (Total Control of the Epidemic) program in Zimbabwe for AIDS. TCE acts as a facilitator, mobilizing the Zimbabwean people themselves to take control and deal with their situation regarding HIV/AIDS. WISHH has been actively involved with that project. In a follow-up activity, Planet Aid, an American non-governmental organization operated by Humana, has received a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a similar program in the province of Sofala, Mozambique. Planet Aid has subcontracted ADPP (Ajuda de Desenvolvimento de Povo para Povo) to implement this project. ADPP is a local counterpart of Humana People to People. The WISHH program has been subcontracted to train ADPP staff involved with the project in how to use the soy products provided by USDA. WISHH will monitor and train staff for two components of this project: the direct feeding program to individuals and families affected by HIV/AIDS, and running soy restaurants.

The project will use four soy commodities: crude degummed soybean oil and three soy protein products (textured soy protein, soy protein concentrate, and defatted soy flour). USDA has agreed to supply 235 metric tonnes (MT) of textured soy, 16 MT of concentrate, and 68 MT of defatted soy flour to the project. The soybean oil (3,000 MT) will be monetized for Planet Aid under a subcontract to World Vision/Mozambique. The proceeds will then be used by the TCE project for the following activities: to inform and educate 200,000 Mozambicans in the region of Sofala about HIV awareness and prevention, to train 450 primary school teachers, and to support the direct distribution of the soy protein products to 2,900 families affected by HIV/AIDS.

WISHH will be responsible for coordinating the training related to utilization of the soy products. This will be done in collaboration with ADPP, which will be responsible for other components of the training. WISHH will train the following: an ADPP core group (four people, who will be the local trainers), field officers (200), and volunteers (800). The core group will serve as ADPP’s local resource for technical matters related to soybean utilization. This core group, in collaboration with WISHH, will be expected to lead training for the project. For more information on the WISHH project in Mozambique, contact Shannon Ward, WISHH Project Development Manager, at wishhdc1@yahoo.com.

Kenya
WISHH and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) are working together to evaluate the acceptance of soy products (defatted soy flour, soy protein concentrate and textured soy protein) in school feeding programs in Nairobi and Kendu Bay, in western Kenya. In Nairobi, WISHH tested the products in a school and a clinic located at the Kibera Community Self-Help Programme (KICOSHEP). In Kendu Bay, WISHH tested the products at schools associated with Mothers’ Rural Care for AIDS Orphans (MORCAO). The demonstrations were successful, and it was decided to use textured soy protein and defatted soy flour for the pilot project in 2004.

The project will have two components: (1) school feeding and feeding at a clinic and (2) direct distribution. The school feeding program will run for six months, starting in May 2004. Children from the KICOSHEP school and clinic in Nairobi, and from five schools in the Kendu Bay area will receive foods fortified with soy. The direct distribution program will run for three months, starting in September 2004, in Kendu Bay.

The KICOSHEP school, located in Kibera, in the outskirts of Nairobi, serves 475 students in its nursery, pre-elementary, and elementary school (classes 1 to 8). The younger pupils, in class three and lower, attend school five days per week. The older students, about 200 in number, attend school six days per week. All the children, as well as teachers, receive a cereal and a stew/relish for lunch on school days at no cost to them.

Currently, the school is serving the following: Monday—rice and beans, Tuesday—ugali (boiled white maize with the consistency of mashed potatoes) and beans, Wednesday—githeri (a bean and maize mixture), Thursday—ugi (maize gruel) and bean, Friday—rice and green gram, and Saturday—rice and green gram. During the pilot, textured soy protein will be included daily in the relish/stew. Defatted soy flour will be mixed with the maize when ugali or ugi are prepared. In addition, soy products will be served at the KICOSHEP Clinic, which is also located in Kibera, near Wilson Airport. In Kendu Bay, defatted soy flour will be added to the ugi that will be served to the younger children in five schools. For more information on the WISHH project in Kenya, contact Shannon Ward, WISHH Project Development Manager, at wishhdc1@yahoo.com.

Afghanistan
World Food Programme Relief efforts in Afghanistan have surfaced an important need to increase the protein content of the Afghan diet, ideally in their staple—flat bread. WISHH is collaborating with the North American Millers Association (NAMA) to field test soy-fortified wheat flour, which has 12 percent soy flour in the blend. WISHH and NAMA are working to ensure the product will suit local tastes. For more information about the flat bread effort, contact Pradeep Khanna at the National Soybean Research Laboratory at pkhanna@uiuc.edu phone: 217/244-1706 or contact Paul Green at NAMA at PBGreenDC@aol.com phone 202/484-2200 x106.

Guyana

U.S. to Make First Purchase of Textured Soy Protein for Food Assistance Procurement Shows Soy's Value As Global Leaders Head to World Food Summit

June 5, 2002 — As countries around the globe prepare for the World Food Summit, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making this nation's first purchase of U.S. textured soy protein (tsp) for international food assistance efforts. Florida-based Food For The Poor Inc. requested the 500 metric tons of tsp for distribution in Guyana where they will use it to help feed children and adults in a country where protein deficiency is common. The federal procurement signals the increasing role that soy products can play in meeting the nutritional needs of the hungry throughout the world. U.S. soybean growers supported the action through the soybean checkoff-funded World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) Program that provided nutritional, pricing and other information to USDA for the review of tsp that paved its entrance to U.S. food assistance programs.

Integrating a new high-protein product into food assistance is timely as the Heads of State and other representatives of 185 nations and the European Community will participate in the World Food Summit on June 10-13 in Rome. They will seek ways to accelerate progress in feeding the more than 800 million people, including 200 million children under age five, who currently go to bed hungry.

Soy products, such as corn-soy blend, have long served as a staple in international food assistance. "USDA and Food For The Poor's use of tsp is an important milestone in the recognition of the new generation of soy protein products that can make an even greater contribution to the nutritional value of food assistance," said United Soybean Board Chairman Richard Borgsmiller of Murphysboro, Ill.

TSP contains 50-70 percent protein and can be used as a burger, meat sauce and more. Food for the Poor bought small quantities of tsp with their own funds in the past, and it was well received in Guyana's local diets. This success led the organization to request tsp from USDA through the Food for Progress Program. Late last week, USDA began requesting bids from industry to allow it to procure the 500 metric tons. Food For The Poor anticipates a summer arrival of the tsp in Guyana, which is located on the northeastern coast of South America and is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

Food For The Poor Government Program Specialist Clifford Feldman said, "tsp adds another excellent source of protein to our Guyana USDA food program. The food insecure beneficiaries will be receiving a commodity that will improve their quality of life".

The U.S. Congress created the Food for Progress Program in 1985 for the specific role of assisting emerging democracies that have made commitments to introduce or expand free enterprise elements into their agricultural economies. The initiative is rooted in the Food for Peace (Public Law 480) Programs that the United States launched after World War II at a time when President Dwight D. Eisenhower stated that, "Foods can be a powerful instrument for all the free world in building a durable peace."

"Today's global environment shows the benefits of food assistance in a new era," Borgsmiller said. "Soy can play an even greater role in international food assistance to meet the nutritional requirements of the 1 in 7 people in the world who is undernourished. Furthermore, soy can help meet the special nutritional needs of the 36 million people with HIV/AIDS because HIV/AIDS and malnutrition often operate in tandem."

Introducing soy protein products to food aid programs is one of the top goals of WISHH. Activities range from developing new ways soy can increase the protein in breads offered in Afghanistan relief programs to identifying new uses for soy-wheat noodles in Indonesian school lunches. The initiative also demonstrates the nutritional role soy-based foods offer to the millions of people affected by HIV/AIDS worldwide. WISHH routinely leverages soybean checkoff funds by cooperating with humanitarian groups and government agencies as well as the ASA's international marketing staff.

In addition to support from the United Soybean Board and the American Soybean Association, the WISHH program has received funding from state soybean organizations in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Wisconsin and soybean producers from the Northeastern United States. More information about WISHH is available at www.wishh.org

Food For The Poor, the 4th largest international charity in the U.S., is an interdenominational Christian relief and development organization that has developed a highly efficient strategy for aiding the destitute of the Caribbean and Latin America. Now in its 20th year, Food For The Poor has shipped more than 1 billion dollars in aid to the region. Food For The Poor provides emergency relief, education, basic housing, health care, sustainable development, and micro-enterprise development assistance to hundreds of thousands of the poorest of the poor in the region. Food For The Poor employs 250 people, generates 90 percent of the aid it delivers from the private sector and maintains a low overhead cost of 7 percent.

Indonesia

Soy Boosts Wheat Flour in Indonesian Noodles

U.S. soy is now pumping up the protein content of wheat noodles in an innovative project in Indonesia. Starting in March, five Indonesian companies began producing steam-dried wheat noodles enriched with 10 percent soy flour provided through U.S. food aid, thanks in part to the checkoff-funded World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH).

The American Soybean Association (ASA) Singapore office helped develop the formulation for the soy-and-wheat noodles at the U.S. Wheat Associates Regional Noodle Training Center in Singapore. WISHH and ASA worked with the International Relief and Development (IRD) organization that requested the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provide the 30,000 metric tons of wheat and 2,500 metric tons of defatted soy flour in the international development program that will run through December.

At least one of the five producers of this noodle has expressed interest in commercializing the product once the IRD relief project has been completed, said ASA Regional Director for Southeast Asia John Lindblom.

The project is also introducing soy-wheat noodles to Indonesian school children. Starting in June, the initiative will provide snack noodles containing 20 percent soy flour to 15,000 children in 120 different Indonesian schools. This effort will use 500 tons of U.S. soy flour, and it has long-term value in introducing soy to the growing consumer population of Indonesia.

The USDA reports that Indonesia is one of the leading countries where its population is transitioning from subsistence to middle class. Some 50 million people in Indonesia are expected to move into the middle class category between 1996 and 2006.

The effort exemplifies the goals of the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) that encourages the U.S. government to expand its use of soy foods, including value-added soy products. The WISHH Program has received support from the United Soybean Board and state soybean checkoff programs in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Wisconsin and soybean producers from the Northeastern United States. WISHH cooperates with the ASA international marketing department.

Myron Hirniak, Regional Director Caucuses, Counterpart International, delivers textrured soy protein to the director of a school in the Republic of Georgia. Photo Credit: Counterpart International

Thoric Cederstrom, a senior technical advisor for Counterpart International, participated in the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) Midwest Workshop on May 8-10 in Illinois and Indiana. At the workshop, representatives of Private Voluntary Organizations like Counterpart expanded their knowledge about soy for international diets. As a result, Cederstrom took textured soy protein (tsp) to the Republic of Georgia where he started feeding trials for children in a new school lunch program funded by the Global Food for Education Initiative of USDA.  Based on the success, Cederstom is now negotiating with private sector donors for more containers to fully launch Counterpart’s use of tsp. Read the interview with Thoric Cederstrom.

India

India Soy Protein Study

Mexico

Soy in Corn Tortillas

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