Women fish processors displaying the many wares including the hot selling tom brown at the Zabarmari center

Maiduguri - With a broad smile on her face, Maimuna Mashalele, a 35-year-old mother of eight (8) said of the newfound income generation option from one of the many value chains derived from fish processing, called Tom Brown or ‘Garin Kunu’ in hausa. Maimuna Mashalele; is one of the 20 women trained by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), on new techniques of fish processing using the FAO Thiaroye Technique (FTT), and were provided with fully equipped centres in Zabarmari, Jere local government area of Borno state.

She ran away from Gambaru Ngala when the insurgents attacked their community in 2014 and has since settled in the community with her eight children, where she hoped to rebuild her life after losing everything they had, while running away for dear life.

 “Garin kunu has diverse benefits to my family, while its high nutritional content is good for children and adults in my household alike, it is very good for breast-feeding mothers as well. So, for us particularly here in Zabarmari, it is not only for consumption alone, we sale to willing buyers, and the market is big.”

“People keep coming to buy, we have many requests lined up from small traders in the market, women and families within the community. They are packed in kilos. We sale a kilo at N1,500. Our measurement of all the ingredients usually amount to eight (8) kilos which also costs about N8,000. At the end, N12,000 is realised. So N500 is made from each kilo. If we spend N8,000 we make a profit of N4,000”.

With funding from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the project “Addressing Acute Malnutrition through Agriculture and Nutrition-sensitive Interventions in Borno and Yobe States” aims to enhance nutrition security of vulnerable communities through community-based nutrition sensitive agriculture practices and approaches in Borno and Yobe states.

FAO adopted an implementation strategy that utilises community base-participatory approach to promote ownership and sustainability where the processing and distribution of the locally blended formula/cereal and fish-based recipe (Tom-brown or ‘Garin Kunu”) at the FAO fish processing facilities established in various locations across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states.

FAO constructed, and equipped 13 fish processing centres, that are currently functioning and managed by 350 women trained by FAO across the BAY States. 

For Mariam Garba, a 28-year-old lactating mother, the process of preparation is not a challenge because at the Gongulong center also in Jere local government, all the women join efforts to do the work.

“The ingredients used are diverse, but they include a kilo each of guinea corn, millet, rice, fish, wheat, soybeans and groundnuts but two kilos of maize is required to boost the quantity, the nutritional value to mothers cannot be quantified, because I know many nursing mothers in the community that are taking the cereal. Their babies particularly all look healthy. Even pregnant women are made strong by feeding on the cereal. There are times in a week, we can make up to 500kg, all according to the demand we get, but it is collective effort where all the women in the centers are involved”, said Garba.

At the Zabarmari processing center, like Gongulong (and the other 11 centers) where Maimuna, Garba and fellow women Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), returnees and host community, were largely idle before this project and without a source of livelihoods nor access to nutritious food.

“Much progress has been achieved, and change had happened  with the establishment of this center in our community,  now we have learned new skills of fish processing, and processing  of highly nutritious  locally produced food  that in our local language is called  ‘Garin Kunu’ which we now feed our children. Said one of the women at Zabarmari fish processing centre.  

“We have been able to pay our children’s school fees from the income we generate from the production of these the processed fish and Tom Brown mixtures, we feed our children and even share the extra proceeds with others that are helpless and in need”, Garba said obviously pleased she could also extend a helping and to others.

Contact:

David Tsokar                                                                                           Uloma MezieOsuocha

Communication Specialist                                                                         Communication for Development

David [email protected]                                                                               [email protected]

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