Did you know the amount of food lost annually in Africa due to post harvest loss is enough to feed the total number of undernourished people globally? This is according to the Rockefeller Foundation with estimates of about 30-40% of production being lost, an equivalent to US$940 billion. The global population is also expected to increase to nearly 10 billion people by 2050 necessitating increased production to feed the growing population and increased value addition of agricultural products to reduce food losses and food wastage.
For a long time, Burundi imported chili oil from Rwanda popularly known as “akabanga” however in 2020 saw governments announce restrictions on movement of some goods and people as a measure to curb the spread of Covid-19 virus which killed approximately 6.5 million people globally according to the World Health Organization; this halted the importation of “akabanga” into Burundi. Additionally, diplomatic relations between Rwanda and Burundi worsened due to prevalence of armed rebellion in the region, mutual mistrust and political suspicion interfered with trade relations between the two neighboring countries.
Eloge Niyomwungere, founder and CEO of ‘Best Food Solution’, Burundi and 2022 Gogettaz finalist under the ‘Impact’ category took advantage of “akabanga” shortage in the market to introduce his locally made chili products. The climate in Burundi is favorable as chilies grow well in hot weather with a lot of sunlight.
Inspired by Doctor Strive Massiyiwa’s quote “Agriculture is a trillion dollars opportunity”, while illustrating the daily revenue in fast food eateries and amount of money households’ spend on food made Niyomwungere to provide solutions in the food value chain while while increasing his cash flows.
Best Food Solution has partnered with rural smallholder farmers in Burundi by providing them with quality seeds and other farm inputs with guaranteed offset of their harvest at a contractual price. Once harvested, chillies are processed into oil, powder, dried chilies and packaged well in different quantities ready to be sold in the market.
“It takes us about 3 days to make 100 cartons of oil with our little machines and 5 days to make a 100kgs of chili powder depending on the climate conditions to facilitate the drying process,” says Niyomwungere.
Like most plants, chillies are prone to pests and diseases such as thrips, …
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