Report - Soya Milk

MAKING SOYA MILK

Soybean is a vegetable that grows all over the world in both temperate and tropical climates. Soybean was domesticated in the 11th century BC in China. It is believed that it might have been introduced to Africa in the 19th century by missionaries.

Soybean consists of more than 36% protein, 30% carbohydrates, and excellent amounts of dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals. It also consists of 20% oil, which makes it the most important crop for producing edible oil. A by-product from the oil production is used as a high-protein animal feed in many countries.

Soybean also improves soil fertility, like other legumes, by adding nitrogen from the atmosphere. This is a major benefit in Malawian farming systems and other African countries as well, where soils have become exhausted by the need to produce more food for increasing populations, and where fertilizers are hardly available and are expensive for farmers.

The idea is to promote the use of soybeans, since they are easy to grow and contain much protein. Moreover, malnutrition, particularly protein deficiency, is prevalent in many parts of Africa, inclusive in Malawi, as animal protein is too expensive for most populations. Soybean is an available crop that provides an inexpensive and high quality source of protein comparable to meat, poultry and eggs.

And since soya milk is very simple to make and does not required any specialized equipment, we decided that should be a very nice experience to show in the rural areas where we worked, among the primary schools.

Soya milk can also be a good source of protein for babies who no longer get breast milk and also can be used as a cow milk substitute for the ones that are vegans. In fact, we found a lot of rastafaris here in Malawi.

Everybody was enthusiastic!

We carried with us the soybeans already soaked and a piece of cloth to work as a filter. Just a tip, the cloth needs to have the right porosity to let the milk be filtered. In some communities we used a sifter. Much easier.

Everybody needed to try. A swallow at least. In some schools, it was hard to share with all students. So, we challenge them to make a rale. We split the learners in teams composed by all the standards, from standard one to eight.

The first team to cross the line, won. That means that were the ones to try the milk. The rest of them they could get the remaining material, a kind of porridge, that is also a rich source of proteins. We also had sugar not only in the milk but also in porridge.

The soya milk was such a success that even where there were no cups, children improvised leaves wrapped in a cone-shape to drink from that.

This kind of tips on nutrition and food diversification are simple to make, doesn’t require specialized machinery and significantly can improve the health of the communities, especially children.