The Rev. Fr. Moses Orshio Adasu University Makurdi (MOAUM)—formerly Benue State University (BSU)—Centre for Food Technology and Research (CEFTER) has announced a new product line, the canning line.
The centre’s director, Prof. Barns Ikyo, took to his Facebook (Meta) profile and wrote: “We present to you our functional canning line at the MOAUM (BSU) CEFTER Food Technology Innovation Complex (CEFTIC)!
“This cutting-edge technology will play a vital role in beverage processing and preservation.”
He explained that the key objectives of the line are to support research and development in food processing for the Department of Sciences and other relevant departments, foster innovation and entrepreneurship in the food sector on the African continent, and provide resources and expertise for small businesses and startups in food processing, such as canning tomatoes.
“We are already in partnership with a company to produce canned malt,” he said, pointing to the video he attached showing a can of “CEFTER Malt” being canned by the canning line.
Given its performance, MOAUM CEFTER is rated in the top five of the 25 centres in Africa.
During the 2022 West and Central Africa Post-Harvest Congress and Exhibition (WCAPHCE) organised by CEFTER, BSU, under the theme: Upscaling and Promotion of African Indigenous Foods (AIF) in Abuja, Prof Joe Iorapuu (who is now leave) said “One of the issue is that the center (CEFTER) is dealing with post harvest lost in terms of food production as you know, insecurity, climate change and some other factors are contributing to the fact that we are losing food and not just that, globally, we are standing a chance of insecurity even with climate change. And we think that what we’re trying to do is to collectively show solidarity and collectively act towards ensuring indigenous food production.
“Not just indigenous food production, but also ensuring that post-harvest losses are contained maximally to the best of our capability, that is the essence of this, and this is going to be processed through research and through practical strategies that will help even our local farmers and our big-time farmers.”
In 2023, CEFTER MOAUM introduced two wine brands: BESUM (Rose) and Lobi. They also produce biodegradable bags and many other processed food products that maintain their natural taste.
