Lost Crops of Africa Volume I: Grains (1996) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix B: Potential Breakthroughs in Grain Handling
Appendix B: Potential Breakthroughs in Grain Handling
Pages 285-296
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From page 285... ...
They usually soak the grain in water, pound it with the butt end of a heavy wooden pole (pestle) to knock off the outer seed coat, winnow the beaten mixture to separate the bran, moisten the grain a second time, and finally pound it yet again to break it up into flour.
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From page 287... ...
At the entrance to her hut, over a goatskin. an Adoimara Danakil woman grinds sorghum between two stones.
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From page 288... ...
The essential component, the dehuller, was originally designed at the Prairie Regional Laboratory in Saskatoon, Canada. A small version specially sized for rural Africa has been built, field-tested, and improved at The Rural Industries Innovation Centre in Kanye, Botswana.
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From page 289... ...
Some writers claim that postharvest grain losses in Africa sometimes top 40 percent. mainly due to poor processing and storage.
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From page 290... ...
They are equipped with air vents and are said to offer excellent protection against dampness, insects, and rodents. Ferrocement A form of reinforced concrete, ferrocement utilizes materials that are normally readily available wire mesh, sand, water, and cement.
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From page 291... ...
Its inventors are the peasants of northeast China who, from time immemorial, have built tiny mud turrets to store their household food reserves. In recent years, a national campaign to decentralize grain storage has led to this very simple and economical technique being used throughout the Chinese countryside.
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From page 292... ...
Sierra Leone Farmers in six districts of Sierra Leone are replacing traditional mud floors, used for drying freshly harvested rice, with improved drying yards. This cheap and simple change keeps the grain clean, lessens the drying time, and reduces postharvest losses by more than half.
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From page 293... ...
The heated air rises by natural convection through the slatted floor of the rice box, up through the grain (contained in fine wire mesh) , and out a tall chimney (again fabricated from bamboo and plastic sheet)
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From page 294... ...
The larger grain borer, a Central American beetle introduced accidentally into Tanzania and West Africa, is relentlessly spreading through maize-growing areas. This voracious pest feeds on stored maize, cassava, wheat, sorghum, sweet potato, peanuts, and other foods.
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From page 295... ...
, neem-based methods for controlling insects in grain stores are soon likely to be widely available. Some German-sponsored research has already pioneered one ap proach that employs the oil extracted from neem seeds.'2 In this project, neem oil has proved effective against bruchid beetles the prime pest of Africa's stored products.
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From page 296... ...
Indeed, in most African countries, rural people use it as a food additive.~5 For example, they commonly drop it into okra soups to increase the mucilaginous quality or into boiling cowpeas to reduce the cooking time. In northern Nigeria, farmers add bona to their cattle's drinking water.
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