Delegates included enterprising small businesses, supply chain companies and food processors. Most importantly though, the workshop served as a forum for industry to share ideas and marketing strategies and to be exposed to the theoretical and practical aspects of small-scale processing and marketing of selected oilseeds and legumes. The morama bean, a perennial legume, classified as an oilseed, is part of a staple diet of the San indigenous people of Botswana. Considered a delicacy there, it’s found in the Kalahari Desert and neighbouring sandy regions of Botswana, Namibia, the Limpopo and the North-West province. What makes is so favourable is that it’s a drought tolerant crop and doesn’t spoil very easily, so it has a mass of potential. Previous EU funded projects in Gaborone, Botswana run by several global universities, including the University of Pretoria have set out to understand factors involved in production and domestication of the crop.
Delegates included enterprising small businesses, supply chain companies and food processors. Most importantly though, the workshop served as a forum for industry to share ideas and marketing strategies and to be exposed to the theoretical and practical aspects of small-scale processing and marketing of selected oilseeds and legumes. The morama bean, a perennial legume, classified as an oilseed, is part of a staple diet of the San indigenous people of Botswana. Considered a delicacy there, it’s found in the Kalahari Desert and neighbouring sandy regions of Botswana, Namibia, the Limpopo and the North-West province. What makes is so favourable is that it’s a drought tolerant crop and doesn’t spoil very easily, so it has a mass of potential. Previous EU funded projects in Gaborone, Botswana run by several global universities, including the University of Pretoria have set out to understand factors involved in production and domestication of the crop.
fatty acids and a similar amino acid profile to the soy bean, capable of providing high density nutrition for infants, children and adults. It’s also reported to be a source of phytonutrients including polyphenols, phytates and oligosaccharides with potential health benefits in the prevention of noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers. Research has produced prototypes of innovative high quality and healthful morama bean products which have been developed to target niche markets. Among these are roasted morama bean snacks, long life morama bean milk, oil, composite sorghum porridge and a protein rich flour. Although product tests have been limited until now, it is interesting that no allergens have been found in the morama. All of these products are relatively simple to process with great marketing opportunities which were discussed extensively by Danie Jordaan of Market Matters and members from the audience. The importance of conveying marama knowledge to the marketplace was highlighted as a first step in the marketing process with the Botswana College of Agriculture already cultivating the plant as a community project. It was emphasised during the marketing presentation that the morama needs to be market driven before research on actual cultivation starts though due to a concern regarding growth time of crops before harvesting.
Other challenges include the fact that currently the morama grows in Namibia and Botswana in very remote areas, accessible only to traders and it is therefore consumed as a trading product. As a result the morama market currently remains very undeveloped. Benefits are plentiful and include the fact that Botswana is not only politically stable, but its GDP is expected to grow nearly 4.5% over the next three years. It’s also had one of the world’s highest economic growth rates since its independence. Another benefit is that South Africa serves as the largest source of food exports to Botswana and neighbours upon which Botswana is heavily reliant. As malnutrition really does remain a food industry concern, particularly with regard to HIV, the morama has the potential to raise nutrition levels of vulnerable populations with its unique chemical composition. Since the morama has a profile much like soy, soy is likely to be its major competitor. In 2004 the US exported a total value of $8 billion of soy with farmers being paid an average of $5.65 per bushel of soy. Considerations for business owners about morama include questions such as how to convince people to try an unknown product, what motivates people to buy soy, olive oil etc. and can these reasons be applied to morama products? Also why do some people associate soy with a poor taste even when they haven’t tried it and would this be the case with morama?
Audience participation gave rise to some ideas and suggestions about the feasibility of economic ventures and marketing ideas. Concerns raised included community protection versus commercialisation with a setup like the Fair Trade dispensation. This was discussed as a priority in food fortification development in order to protect the communities that are able to develop and maintain equity. Thought was given to local farmers and community dispensation among morama bean growers. The workshop laid open a forum for enterprising minds to take advantage of a new market t o compete with soya and other alternative bean byproducts. Holistic health and nutritional benefits were discussed along with ideas about using the oil of the bean and feeding the protein back into the morama community. The Unive r s i ty of Pretoria say they intended to cont inue funding and research into the morama with the ideas for promoting food security and fortification. Audience participation was high and the crowd was enthusiastic.
