Driving Consumer Demand for Dried Pigeon Peas Project

=>Agenda: Promoting Local Consumption and Markets of Pigeon Peas  

Systemic Constraint: 

Limited capacity for value addition to pulses – resulting in overreliance on whole grain export markets. 

Intervention: 

1. Increase domestic consumption of pigeon peas and market share.
2. Train chefs and utilize new pigeon pea cooking recipes.
3. Institutions adopt the consumption of pigeon pea food recipes.
4. Women entrepreneurs and food vendors adopt pigeon pea in their food products.
5. Women entrepreneurs enhance their processing facilities

Key Activities: 

1. Awareness: Introduction of the project and Identifying schools, food processors (SMEs), food vendors, Hospitals, prisons, military camps and caterers in Manyara, Arusha, Dodoma, Morogoro and Dar es Salaam to engage in the project. Further to that, Caterers conduct live cooking demonstrations in 50 schools (25 Primary and 25 secondary schools) for 1 day to demonstrate pigeon peas recipes to school children and working hygiene conditions.
2. Knowledge transfer: Review training curriculum and manuals, leaflets and posters. Further, conduct practical training for 50 caterers & 2 food production training institutes. Additionally, the National College of Tourism conducts training 50 hotels chefs & 55 SMEs for one day to demonstrate pigeon peas cooking recipes and hygienic working conditions. Also, Rikolto identifies Lead Caterer who then acts as the Training of Trainer (ToT) from each region (i.e., Arusha, Manyara, Dodoma, Morogoro and Dar es Salaam) to conduct training for food vendors, Schools, Hospitals, Prisons and Military.
3. Cascading training: Caterers who received knowledge transfer through the ToT training conduct practical training to 100 food vendors (50 women) on cooking new pigeon peas recipes and hygienic working conditions. More caterers to conduct live cooking demonstrations during district nutritional days (in hospitals/markets) to 12 wards. At the national level, facilitate 25 Caterers/ SMEs participate to national, and regional exhibitions, Workshops, and trade fairs and demonstrate new recipes and products to women and men consumers. Further, 50 Caterers supported saving pigeon peas food meals to at least 5 ceremony events (to enhance consumer behavioural changes).
4. Promotion: National College of Tourism supports 50 hotels and 25 SMEs with pigeon peas as a starter kit to adopt trained pigeon peas recipes. Caterers Support 100 Food vendors with pigeon peas products as a starter kit to adopt trained pigeon peas recipe.
5. Institutional promotion: Caterers support 3 military and 3 prisons with pigeon peas products as a starter kit to adopt trained pigeon peas recipe.
6. Knowledge sharing: Develop radio, TV content for public promotion and awareness campaigns. To be based on sessions and events, leaflets and Posters and manuals to demonstrate the nutritional and economic benefits of pigeon peas recipes.
7. Investment promotion and business development: Identify appropriate pigeon peas dehulling machines from India and China and Introduce to Babati – Manyara.
8. Knowledge transfer in production: Establish two (2) demonstration plots in the Manyara region to demonstrate Sustainable agriculture (CSA) in pigeon peas production.
9. Knowledge transfer in post-harvest handling: Promotion of improved storage facilities (vacuum silos).
10. Business promotion: Conduct refresher training to 6 faith-based organisations (FBOs) on entrepreneurship skills, e.g. price negotiation with offtakes i.e. traders, schools, food vendors, military camps and hospitals.
11. Business linkages: Link 3 FBOs in the Manyara region with potential offtakes. Also link Food vendors and Food processors (SMEs) with Financial institutions to access finance to improve their processing facilities and scale out their businesses.