Youth group easily peels money from banana flour

Dressed in white gumboots, matching dustcoat and hair caps, the group of young men and women inspect and weigh bananas delivered by farmers at their plant at Gathinga Youth Polytechnic in Nyeri County.

The group that calls itself G-Star buys bananas from farmers and processes them into flour.

Charles Wachira, 37, the chairman, says they went into the business after realising that there was massive wastage of bananas in the region.

“Our value addition was to curb losses by processing the fruit. We buy a kilo at Sh12,” he says, noting that they started the business in 2013.

Once they get the fruits, they are cleaned and the edges cut to prevent contamination.

“We then chop the bananas into small pieces using a vegetable slicer and clean them again to prevent any contamination.

The sliced bananas are then put into two solar dryers. A moisture metre is used to test the level of dryness before the slices are ground,” explains Wachira, noting they process up to 400kg per week.

The banana flour branded Lishe is mixed with sorghum and maize at a ratio of 1:1:2 to make a composite nutritious product that is sold in shops in Nyeri.

“In its pure form, banana flour is used in baking, making porridge or ugali. It is rich in resistant starch that aids in colon health and also helps in the improvement of intestinal functioning as it is neither digested nor absorbed in the small intestine and it reaches the large intestine where it is fermented,” says Agnes Muchiri, a retired officer from the Ministry of Agriculture in Nyeri.

The fruit, she adds, is an excellent source of potassium which helps to control heart functions, aids digestion, has magnesium that helps in the recovery of muscles and improves sleep.

“It also contains zinc that supports a healthy immune system, phosphorous for the repair and turnover of cells and for heart health. It’s also glutenfree and does not contain the anti-nutrients and gut irritants found in wheat flour, making it safe for coeliacs.”

In 2015, the group secured money from Uwezo Fund (Sh50,000), Youth Fund (Sh100,000) and Sh90,000 from USAID through a programme dubbed ‘Yes Youth Can’. They further received Sh1.8 million from UpperTana in 2018.

“We have also been trained by Wambugu Farm, Jomo Kenyatta and University of Agriculture and Technology on food processing,” he says, adding that the money has come in handy in helping them acquire the necessary equipment.