Essential Fermentation: A New Weapon in the Fight Against Malnutrition Across Sub-Saharan Africa
A young bioscience non-profit says that its new fermentation technology could bend the arc on malnutrition among some of Africa’s most vulnerable communities by converting agricultural by-product into protein as affordable as soy.
Essential, which is based in Kenya, believes its cutting-edge advances in fermentation technology could transform the food system in Africa.
The organization’s goal is to produce affordable, high-quality proteins that withstand climate challenges like extreme drought, and are integrated into products designed to combat malnutrition. Essential claims that fermentation is a super-process in this part of the world: its remarkable ability to continuously produce protein regardless of climate conditions is a crucial advantage given the frequent climatic disruptions that devastate crops and livestock.
Essential’s fermentation technology could provide a beacon of hope in an undernourished area with a growing population. This is where the interconnected crises of malnutrition, food system inefficiencies and climate change pose some of the most urgent challenges of the 21st century. A lack of affordable, high-quality proteins in Sub-Saharan Africa means that around 1 billion people do not have sufficient protein in their diets. Recent cross-country research reveals that 30-40% of stunting can be explained by a lack of high-quality protein.
Essential says that strong evidence-based research like theirs is vital in the race to produce resilient, cost-effective, and sustainable proteins as the challenges of extreme weather conditions associated with climate change hamper agricultural productivity and nutritional content. Although fermentation has ancient roots, alternative proteins have generated scientific momentum in affluent nations in the past decades.
Now Essential says that its core technologies of fermentation and biomanufacturing offer a unique edge in combating malnutrition. The initiative envisions itself as the pioneering force advancing this scientific realm in Sub-Saharan Africa and plans to collaborate with governments, multilateral agencies, and development finance organizations to promote biomanufacturing as a climate adaptation strategy to enhance food security and address malnutrition.
Learn more about Essential.
Written by Gilly Smith
Images provided by Essential
