NAMAZZI Herbal Flour

Iam Judith Bakirya, Managing Director of Busaino Fruits & Herbs (BuFruit). This is an inclusive permaculture farm that grows and adds value to Avocado, Jackfruit and Herbs on 1064 acres of land in Uganda. Judith is an awards winner:  BBC global inspiring woman 2019, Africa influential woman in agribusiness CEO Global 2017 and   "Best Farmer" Uganda 2014.

Judith is particulary passionate about impacting youth and women through harnessing the wonder powers of plants. As a chairperson of the Avocado Association in Uganda, has influenced Avocado to be on Uganda Crop and export  lists and increase acreage under cultivation.

Judith has pioneered a process that converts avocado and jackfruit seeds into flour and blends it with herbs to get: Medicinal herbal Teas, cooking ingredients, animal feed and   food fortification. The new ingredient l call Namazzi Herbal flour

Waste to Revenue, Namazzi Herbal flour

BuFruit turns botanical waste into a resource. An estimated 12 million kilograms of Avocado and Jackfruit seeds are generated every year and end up in gabbage hips, streams, rivers and drainage systems.   Excess build up over the years causes carbon emissions and blockage of the water flow systems. Processing the flour offers income generating opportunities and improved nutrition in those fruits growing communities.

BuFruit has pioneered an artisanal process that converts Avocado and Jackfruit seeds and blends with indigenous herbs to make a nutrient-dense super-food called Namazzi Herbal Flour. A number of products are made including herbal teas, cooking ingredient, animal feed and has plans to fortify maize flour with it and make energy from the biomass. The products add a nutritious superfood to the global menu under this COVID19 era. 

Avocado and Jackfruit Seeds are discarded after the fruit is used and causes ecological problems in streams and drainage systems. Avocado is the fourth largest selling tropical fruit in the world, with an estimated global production of 4,717,102 tonnes and an increase of 139% in the last 20 years. The highest residual biomass from Avocado comes from the guacamole manufacturers. In Uganda it’s from the day to day consumers of the fruit, oil manufacturers and the cosmetic industry.

Over 1.25 million metric tons of jack fruit are produced annually globally. The lifespan of the jackfruit tree is 60 to 70 years and a mature plant produces up to 700 fruits per year

Jackfruit comprising 28-33% pulp and 67% waste from which a lot of value-added products can be processed. However, currently limited  information exists on the production capacity, utilization and processing of jackfruit in Uganda.

Collect seeds of Avocado and Jackfruit. Wash them thoroughly with clean water. Then take off the outer skin. Then using a small scale machinery crash them and put them out in the sun to dry. Once dry the seeds are ground using small scale machinery.  Avocado and Jackfruit are processed separately and mixed  as  flour into proportions. 

Depending  the respective use, the flour is blended with herbs such as African Basic, Centella, African Ginseng, to produce herbal teas (Namazzi Herbal Tea for female benefit, Wamazzi Herbal Tea for Health Benefit and Lwazzi Herbal Tea) blend the flour with animal feed – maize bran or porridge for drinking.

Nutritional value of Avocado  & Jackfruit flour per 100gms:  Zinc 393.35g , Calcium 320, Proteins 44.45, magnesium 12.19 and with  Soluble Fibre, Flavanol, Antioxidants  & amino acids. 

Medicinal Value: flavonoids, anthocynoids, saponins, tannins, alkaloid and reducing compounds.

The whole process is described as artisanal. At each  level we work with women and youth – those who collect and  those who wash, those who grate all the way to the final product.

On the demand side the project  targets corporate customers. They are conscious of their health and are yearning for herbal products from a trusted source and have disposable income. Fours ago I started with 10 tins of the product that sold within one month. Today I sell up to 700 tins ($6 each tin) of 250g sell at a month. I call it a wonderful beginning. The strategy for marketing is limited to networking marketing to enable controlled growth and feedback as l move towards a products that satisfies different market segments.

On the supply side I work with women and unemployed youth through centres of seeds collection in market places and deliver at the processing locations at a fee. Then the women and youth are also involved in processing the seed.  Each person may realise $30 a month. This is still at a small scale but the future for scale-up is great.

The   business is structured as an inclusive social enterprise.  It addresses over 7 UN Sustainability Goals. There is potential to   create over one million sustainable jobs and a new revenue source for women and young people. The business already  reaches customers in over 3 continents.

Elevate opportunities  for all people: Consumers who benefit from the nutritious   superfood, to the women and youth who directly participate in the production process. 

Project impacts on household income.  Surrounding communities are  mobilised to grow a minimum of 20 avocado trees  & Jackfruit as boundary crops on their small pieces of land with a population of 155,000  making 310,000 trees.

Then there is an element in dot two:  Environment  & Sustainability issues . Cleaning the environment and its a sustainable business to replicate  worldwide and next generation

The Story begins with my favourite grandmothers, Nhyensi (Agnes). In her last years of life she asked me if I could inherent one great thing from her- that was herbal medicine and indigenous plants knowledge and uses. One of the things she mentioned was avocado plant and its multiple uses. Leaves for blood, the pulp for the skin and seed for tea.  

It’s this knowledge that formed the basis for my later life- when I decided to leave town life to settle in the country side and grow Avocado, Jackfruit and herbs on a large scale.  I owe a lot of knowledge to the indigenous knowledge that I have gathered especially from ordinary women. It’s this knowledge that I have complemented with a wealth of scientific knowledge that is now available.

I have a passion for Avocado and Jackfruit, and for the people, and for communities that grow it. So finding a use for the discarded seed has become my purpose. What am most proud of is that I have structured the business model so that the positive social, environmental and economic impacts are  shared by all.

With 1064 acres of land under Busaino Fruits & Herbs, with 6750 trees of Avocado and 536 jackfruit trees and 5 acres consolidated herbs, am a leader farmer in Uganda.  Have mobilized Uganda and the smallholder farmers to increase acreage of land under Avocado to 5000 acres in the last two years. Am Chairperson of the Avocado Association in Uganda, and Board member of the Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association.

I have a Master Degree in Health and Development  and hands on courses in  growing and  processing fruits,  and herbs handling among others. 

Am practically involved in agriculture production and processing, with a model farm (www.busainofruits.com). 

I interact with ordinary rural communities  and understand their needs and aspirations and at the same time interact at policy level. This level of interaction gives me the unique position of bridging the gap between practice and policy. 

I like to go an extra mile in whatever i do - thus ability to innovate and create.

My first degree is in teacher education and have done a number of courses in adult education, which skills enable me to train others and also to learn from them and to document experiences.

10 years ago  I was seeking to work with small garden owners to expand acreage under Avocado and Jackfruit. Decided to distribute free seedlings  to the neighbours in six villages. The distribution was being coordinated through the local leadership,  local council 1 and 2. The first meeting had over 159 farmers turned up, they received each 20 seedlings to grown as boundary crops on their land.

As they were going home they threw the seedlings them along the village path. Reason, this so called ‘Good Samaritan may have long term plans of grabbing our land’ that was me.  Only about 15 took and planted the Seedlings.  Some 6 people along the way who missed the meeting picked the thrown seedlings and went to plant. The Local council advised me to stop distributing free seedlings. 10 years later about 21 people had gardens of Avocado and Jack fruit scattered in their gardens and are already selling. Now the small holder farmers are come back. They are demanding the seedlings. Have changed the strategy. We are working together through a cooperative. There is education accompanying our work with fruits. We are looking at the various parts of the value chain.

I have a group of 356 women in the BuFruit Cooperative who were trading in Avocado and jackfruit.
Most of them begun with a small capital fund of shs 2000 (0.7) of an Us$
dollar.  There is one particular lady Athieno.
For one year she was walking  the village selling the fresh fruits and on Saturdays
she walked six kilometres to the lake Victoria market (Waka Waka Market). After
one year   she had saved some money to buy
an old bicycle at shs 6000 ($2).  That is
indeed an old bicycle. Hardly had she used it for one month that the husband
grabbed her bicycle to buy alcohol. When she tried to  hide it at her mother, the husband invaded the mother- law threatening to beat her (a big taboo) in
our culture. She lost her bicycle. Then I thought why we don’t change the
strategy. The ladies collect the seeds, carry out artisanal processing, then  bulk and I pick the dried seed

From waste to revenue, natural resource stewardship to nutrition improvement and job creation: Using the seed  of avocado and Jackfruit removes botanical waste  from  garbage heaps, rivers and streams there by strengthening the lands and lives of people and species therein. And for you and me it adds  a nutritious distinctly  flavorful ingredient  on the world menu.

Each year millions  of avocados  

Combination of the three Items

 1. our focus of utilizing hitherto thrown away Avocado and Jackfruit seeds into money making enterprises

2. barter trading into items of no monitory value to smallholder farmers and in turn supplying them with nutritive fresh avocado and jackfruit diversifies their dietry menu even further and sends message to them of the importance of fruit growing and consumption at household level.

3. shared value where BUFRUIT profits , smallholder farmers improved productivity and nutrition, innovative trading practices (barter system), and gender empowerment go together.

4. there is higher potential for application since there is huge unmet market demand for affordable, nutritious easy to prepare foods as exhibited by the wide interest of both urban buyers.

5. Can use locally fabricated machinery and do rural artisanal manufacturing 

6. all raw materials are locally available and growing almost in nature-supported organic form and utilising a mix of indigenous and modern knowledge

7.smallholder farmers already have some experiences in growing indigenous herbs

8. Profits from the business are re-invested in the company and community 

Vision

Increase affordable, nutrition dense organic superfood for all people in the world in this era of COVID where we require immunity boost

Mission 

To Support the Sustainability Goals by contributing the Namazzi Herbal flour, that is nutrition dense and an organic super food

250,000 people

1.To Scale the production and processing to meet a larger market demand

2. To process the international Quality standards to enable reach a global market

1.Quality standards

2. Affordable and user friendly financing

1. By Processing the Quality Standards

2. Seeking affordable and user friendly funding

1. Uganda Women Entepreneurs Association

2. Uganda Industrial Research Institute

1. Social  Enterprise using the Artisanal processing by working with the local community of young people and rural women. They participate at the different levels of the value chain

1. Selling the products at profit level and continuing to work with the local community

1. Have used savings and money generated from Busaino fruits and Herbs Farm to fund the innovation.

Since its Social Enterprise, i would welcome a mix of grants and soft loans

1. Require an estimated $100,000 to move into  consolidation and expansion stage

1. To grow, consolidate and expand the  Namazzi Herbal Flour innovation

1. To bring technical expertise

1. Those that deal with research, mentoring, marketing and blanding