CSIR -Food Research Institute Annual Report 2021

Abstract

Since its inception, CSIR-Food Research Institute, an affiliate institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, provides scientific and technological support that are intended to meet the demands of the private sector and other stakeholders for the socio-economic development of Ghana. Mandated to conduct applied market-oriented research, the Institute has blossomed into the leading establishment in food research and post-harvest management technologies which are geared towards assisting the food industry. The activities of CSIR-FRI are purposely geared towards capacity building, skills development as well as nutrition studies and interventions. These are key areas targeted at curbing food insecurity related issues in the country. Under its R&D program, various projects impacted society through programmes, workshops and other capacity building activities especially in rural communities on various processing technologies. These included improving small fish drying by trainings on quality and safety of small fish processing and providing drying platforms to community groups. Some communities were trained on the use of Orange fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) in order to introduce quality and variety to product lines such as the fortification of gari and baking bread and pastry products. Cassava processors were trained on quality production of HQCF and ethanol Under the auspices of the MAG project, CSIR-FRI trained trainers in over ten (10) training sessions on handling post-harvest losses of watermelons, oranges, mangoes and pineapples. Bakers were trained on the use of composite flour from local roots and tuber crops for pastries and bread. Fish samples were collected for bacteriophage isolation in the Middle and Northern belts of the country of Ghana. Fish pathogens were isolated, enumerated and identified for further work under the SafeFish project. Within the year, CSIR-FRI developed and transferred eleven (11) post-harvest technologies. Thirty (30) food preservation technologies and six thousand, three hundred and fifty-two (6,352) analytical services were rendered to stakeholders.