By Moyiga Nduru
NAIROBI, Apr 27 1996 (IPS)

Millions of people in Africa need not be undernourished if the consumption of soya bean, a relatively cheap source of protein, is encouraged, nutritionists say.

“Soya has the highest vegetable protein of any known plant,” explains Derek Waymark of the German Technical Programme (GTZ) which is promoting the legume in Kenya. “It contains up to 40 percent protein and up to 20 percent oil,”

“What you need is just one part of soya and three parts of maize per person per meal and you have a balanced diet,” he told IPS. “That’s why it is used as relief food around the world.”

Soya originated in China over 2,000 years ago. It is a staple in South East Asia and was introduced to Europe and the United States at the beginning of the last century where its versatility gained it popularity.

“You can do anything with soya. You name it. It can be manufactured into baby food. It can be used for baking bread, chapatis, cakes and producing milk. And the residue can be used for animal feed,” explains Waymark.

The bean can also be used as a meat substitute and it has an advantage over other crops, he says: “It has a long shelf life of two to three years. You can keep it in the house and it won’t deteriorate or lose its nutritional qualities like maize.”

Soya is easy to grow. Moreover, Waymark points out, “it takes three to four months to harvest. And, as a rotational crop, you can put it in with maize or wheat.”

Yet despite these advantages, few people in Africa eat soya. The continent consumes just 600,000 tonnes of the 125 million tonnes produced every year worldwide and only a few of its countries grow it — mainly South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia and, on a smaller scale, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya and Egypt.

“It has taken so long for the crop to come to Africa because of a number of reasons,” explains Waymark. “First, the people of Africa, especially those in Kenya, like consuming meat. Secondly, there hasn’t been so much land and population pressure in Africa in the past 30 years.”

However, with arable land diminishing as the population booms, says Waymark, “the demand for food increases, causing an increasing deficit in protein from fish, goat, sheep and cow meats.”

As a result, malnutrition is rife on the continent. According to Jacques Diouf, Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the number of chronically undernourished people in Africa is projected to swell by about 50 percent to more than 300 million by 2010.

Kenya is no exception. More than 34 percent of Kenyan children under the age of five were moderately or severely stunted in 1993. To combat undernourishment here, local firms, in co-operation with the UN Children Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP), have been developing high-quality foods made from soya.

One such company is the House of Manji.

“Since production commenced in 1992, we have delivered more than 13.000 metric tonnes of blended food and more than 9.000 metric tonnes of biscuits to UNICEF, WFP and numerous NGOs,” said Stuart Allison of the House of Manji in a statement made available to IPS.

The food has been used to feed refugees from Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Somali and Sudan.

But Kenya, whose annual demand is estimated at 30,000 tonnes, continues to import soyabean from neighbouring Uganda and, unless production is stepped up, it is likely to import more.

Waymark, who developed the crop in Uganda 32 years ago, predicts that “by the year 2010, Kenya’s demand will increase to 150,000 tonnes.”

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