The soybean project

In cooperation with the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the Kenya Agriculture Research Institute (KARI)
Farmer in his soybean field

One of the main hindrances to increasing the prosperity of smallholders is the lack of earning opportunities. As soon as the people begin to earn a sustainable income their lives improve, as they can afford to educate their children, and buy medicine, tools, productive livestock, and so forth.

SOF-DI started the soybean project, not only to give local farmers an opportunity to earn money, but also to introduce a plant with a very high degree of nutritional value and great potential for soil improvement.

As a result the farmers experience the following advantages:

Waiting for rain

• Significant improvement of the soil fertility (nitrogen enrichment)
• Improvement of health due to the superior nutritional value and vitamin content of soya.
• Marketable soy-products can be produced: oil, miscellaneous products such as dairy substitutes, bread flour, etc.
• Production of animal feed and mulch materials from by-products

In the SOF-DI centres the farmers receive tuition on nutritional sciences, processing capacities and techniques. SOF-DI is planning to establish a central processing station comprising an oil mill, a soymilk machine and a grain mill, facilities that will then be made available to farmers for a small fee.

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