Soy Leads Kenyan Food Industry Representatives to North Dakota
Seek to Expand Purchases of Soy Flour for New and Healthier Foods
August 27, 2007 - Fargo, North Dakota -- Two Kenyan food industry representatives are in North Dakota this week to find ways to expand their use of high-protein soy products. They want to make or market more new and healthy foods in the East African country. The North Dakota Soybean Council supports the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) program that identified John Kabiru and Joyce Kilima as good candidates for a “Baking with Soy” course held this week at the Northern Crops Institute in Fargo.
Both Kilima and Kabiru are well acquainted with the benefits of defatted soy flour through their purchases from CHS Inc., headquartered in Inver Grove Heights, MN. Part of their trip to the United States included a meeting with CHS last week at their soybean processing facility in Mankato, MN. Kabiru represents a company with a chain of nine restaurants as well as bakeries and coffee houses. The company has sold a wide array of foods made with defatted soy flour as well as textured soy protein. Kilima’s company, Soya Kenya LTD, has sold CHS defatted soy flour in Kenya for the last three years.
“WISHH is excited to have Joyce Kilima and John Kabiru in the United States for training through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cochran Fellowship Program. This is a natural extension of our work in Africa where U.S. soy protein can improve diets as well as generate new business opportunities here and there,” said WISHH Executive Director Jim Hershey. “Kenya is an economic hub for the region so their training can benefit multiple countries.”
Both Kilima and Kabiru have taken part in WISHH-sponsored training programs in the region. “WISHH has helped create awareness and knowledge of the economic benefits of soy in Kenya. People are asking for our products,” Kilima says. “Everyday, the importance of soy is growing. This training (in North Dakota) will be very helpful to formulate new recipes favored in Kenya.”
She is particularly interested in adding soy -protein to cereal-based foods, such as weaning porridges for children, as well as to confectionary foods. Similarly, Kabiru wants the training to help build his company’s soy-enriched food line through the addition of defatted soy flour to cakes, biscuits and cookies. “Soy is the best addition to bread,” says Kabiru who already uses defatted soy flour in rolls, donuts and more.
He also sees promise in expanding their soy-food offerings to the growing Asian community in Africa. Asian customers are creating a strong market for his company’s vegetarian somosas made with textured soy protein and vegetables.
Kenya is geographically about the size of Texas and has a population of 36.9 million, which is about 58 times the population of North Dakota. WISHH has been active in the country for about six years and has provided information and training to food industry representatives as well as private voluntary organizations that work to fight malnutrition and devastating diseases, like HIV/AIDS, where nutrition is vital.
The North Dakota Soybean Council, chaired by grower Darren Kadlec of Pisek, ND, who formerly served on the WISHH board of directors, has funded WISHH activities since 2001. Headquartered at the American Soybean Association in St. Louis, WISHH has worked in 23 countries, ranging from Africa to Asia to Latin America, to improve diets as well as encourage growth of food industries. For more information about WISHH, please visit www.wishh.org.
The Cochran Fellowship Program is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service. It provides U.S.-based agricultural training opportunities for senior and mid-level specialists and administrators from public and private sectors who are concerned with agricultural trade, agribusiness development, management, policy, and marketing. To be eligible, a country may be classified as middle-income, an emerging democracy, or an emerging market. The country’s principal agricultural exports must not compete significantly with U.S. agricultural commodities and products in international trade. For more information about the CFP, visit http://www.fas.usda.gov/icd/cochran/cochran.asp
For more information, contact:
Karen Edwards, World Initiative for Soy in Human Health 703-281-7600 karen@kcegroup.com
Sally Sologuk, Northern Crops Institute 701-231-7736 sally.sologuk@ndsu.edu
Suzanne Wolf, North Dakota Soybean Council (701) 239-7198 swolf@ndsoybean.org
