Initiative to conserve crops in Cameroon
Yaounde, Cameroon Africa. (Cameroon News) – Gladys Ngwi Taka a food processing specialist has devised means to conserve food crops in a drive initiated towards value addition in agriculture sector.
When Gladys Ngwi Taka spared a glance at the huge amount of food crops that were just wasted away rotting in the sunlight she felt lost.
This Mutengene – based food processing engineer, in the Southwest Region of Cameroon, then decided to apply the vast resource of knowledge that she has in conservation of food crops to the best use of her country and its people. Gladys says that there is no more turning back after six years of hard work and studies in this regard, in her humble factory.
She is now all excited about her life which is dotted with numerous events everyday and she is trespassing into new discoveries in and out of Cameroon with her company named Eagle Wings Food & Spices.
At the recent Agro – Pastoral Show, held in Ebolowa, capital town of the South Region, Cameroon, Gladys won a Presidential Award for the strain that she has taken in converting food crops into finished products, now obtained in even the remotest corner of the world.
A slow start
Gladys had just been restricted to her home and kids what with being a full time home maker and mother for over 30 years. She however thinks that this was the time of her life where she learnt the maximum lessons.
She in her various experiments at home was able to find out that she had a gift for altering things –‘transforming things to make them look better’ to put it in her words.
This skill is most obvious in the way her products are packaged since she is directly involved in their packaging except for the bottles and the caps which are imported.
During the early years of her career she was an employee of LABOGENIE, CDC and later Cameroon Tea Estate, CTE. After a certain point in her career she felt that she was in the wrong place and when she was in her final years at CTE, she chose to go in for voluntary retirement after their pay-packets were slashed by half.
She knew that it was now time for her to move on, venture out into something in which she could contribute as well. She says, “I came back home, thought about pepper transformation and my mind began churning out new ideas on how I can better do it. Gradually, I started and today, we are moving step by step.”
What is Eagle Wings Food & Spices all about?
The company that Gladys put in place aims at value addition to food crops and spices through a combined process of transformation and processing. One of their first areas of focus was on pepper which is still very much their priority item.
They modify pepper into Liquid Pepper, Cayenne Pepper Sauce, Cayenne Pepper Cubes, Spicy Tomato Ketchup, yet another one being the change of plantain into plantain fufu or flour, transformation of achu cocoa into flour. They employ their technology in such a manner that their clients can modify and consume achu in thirty minutes.
They also modify constituted achu spices. Basically at Eagle Wings Food & Spices, they have incorporated technology into processing of daily food items such that the burden of preparation is lessened and even novices in cooking can prepare food and consume it within just a matter of minutes.
What is the technology of transformation in Eagle?
The technology that they use in their transformation process if to make things as simple and straightforward as possible.
They work in groups and the women folk are presently doing most of the work manually though some machines are expected to come in by the end of this month. Gladys is hoping on enhanced productivity once the major chunk of their activities gets automated.
A lot of her ideas are original and ones that are being attempted for the first time. An example is the Cayenne Pepper cubes which are her brainchild never attempted by anyone else. This has made it necessary that some of the machines that they need be made to their requirements.
Gladys said, “When I made the first contacts for machines at my choice, the first companies I met did not understand me. When I moved over to South Africa and had discussions with the company – ZONES, I explained my views and vision to the CEO of ZONES and now, they have conceived the machines according to our discussions and they are finalizing on them.
“For other products like Pepper Sauce and Liquid Pepper, which have been done before getting a machine to manufacture was not a difficult task at all.
Consuming Eagle products
The products manufactured by Eagle Wings Food & Spices are certified for safe consumption by all relevant bodies. They have all been measured out and have relevant certificates to prove that their ingredients are also safe for consumption.
Their very first analysis was done by Centre Pasteur in Yaounde, Cameroon. A recent discovery that the National Institute of Agricultural Research and Development, IRAD, in Ekona, Southwest Region also undertake such analysis has provoked Gladys to have talks with the Director of IRAD, Dr. Mafeni and the members of his research team. Hereafter she says that all their future products would be certified by them as well.
Years of experience
The company completes six years of incorporation by November this year. Gladys says that there are so many things in her mind and so many agendas that she wishes to complete that she just wants to go on and on. She says, “When I see food crops wasting or getting rot, I feel bad about it. I have so many ways in my mind how I can conserve that crop for the betterment of humanity.”
Her company Eagle Wings Food & Spices all about has been officially recognized by the government of Cameroon through the Ministry of Small and Medium Size Enterprises. The story begins from the time when.
Officials in the Southwest Regional delegation of the ministry saw her products on display somewhere and expressed sincere interest to find out the brain behind the products .They then got in touch with Gladys.
The government reviewed her products and since then has been actively involved in every one of her products. In fact the Ministry has also partly supported her financially in purchasing the machinery from South Africa. She has also synergized with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development who are likely to help them with repairs and maintenance of the structure in which the factory is currently housed.
The factory is presently in a dilapidated state and the machinery that is worth almost FCFA 32 Million cannot be kept there in the current state of the building they have now.
The packing materials as well as the raw materials are expensive and the only issue that she faces presently is adequate funds to keep the business going especially since she does not wish to compromise on the quality of her work.
She is however proud of the support that her children are giving to her business. Her son who is currently in South Africa pursuing an Engineering degree wishes to take up the running of the business after her. Her daughter also offers her ample support and was the creative brain behind her website which has been really helpful in bringing her business what it badly lacks.
