SPRING/Uganda and Feed the Future’s Commodity Production and Marketing (CPM) activity trained representatives from 22 large- and medium-scale maize millers in the country on good manufacturing practices (GMPs) and how to fortify their maize flour.
During this highly practical, three-day training, millers learned about fortification processes, costing, regulations and standards, fortificants’ health benefits, sourcing and handling, record keeping, and optimizing production to minimize costs. The training took place at Aponye Maize Milling Plant and Talian Grain Millers.
One of the participants, Edward Tumwesigye, the production manager at Aponye Maize Milling Plant, commented extensively about the benefits of the training:
“The best thing about [the training] was that it was done at industries, so people could practically relate to what was being taught. Some of the millers had never heard about fortification and did not know what it takes to fortify maize flour; these [millers] learnt a lot more. The session on GMPs was also beneficial.”
“The facilitators of the sessions were the best choice. They were experienced: all worked for organizations that oversee the quality and sources of fortificants.”
“But there is still a reluctance when it comes to fortifying, because there is hardly any demand for fortified products. We are businessmen so for us to invest in fortification, it needs to make business sense, in that we must have reasonable demand for the product.”
Robert Anyang, Chief of Party for the Feed the Future’s CPM activity, spoke about partnering with SPRING/Uganda:
“SPRING/Uganda are the experts in this area and we are better in bringing industry together. They have a lot of experience in training and we needed that technical knowhow and the approaches they use. We wouldn’t go anywhere else.”
“This partnership is unique and a win for us all. At CPM, we help the millers expand their supply chain. As this happens, they are getting into the threshold that is required to fortify. We want them to abide by the regulations. The training was a great learning opportunity for the millers and we look forward to following them up and supporting them to take action to the next step of fortifying.”
