The BIO4Africa biorefinery in Uganda is up and running

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Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.

Smallholder farmers in Uganda are starting to experience the benefits of a new bio-based technology that turns locally grown elephant grass into nutritious livestock feed. One of the flagship technologies of the BIO4Africa project, the green biorefinery is the first of its kind on African soil – and a step towards replacing expensive soy imports with a home-grown source of sustainable, high-quality protein.
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Figure 1. The BIO4Africa biorefinery in Uganda is up and running (taken from the press release)

The biorefinery lies in Fort Portal on the premises of Kabarole Research & Resource Centre, one of the 25 partners in the EU-African BIO4Africa consortium. Another partner, Dutch biotech company Grassa has supplied knowhow and equipment for the plant.

Local farmers are already delivering grass to the biorefinery for processing. Operating like a slow juicer, the biorefinery squeezes the grass to extract the protein-rich juice. Both the juice and fibrous press cake pack a nutritious punch in livestock feed – and are a cheaper, more accessible alternative to traditional soy-based products.

The pilot trials are making use of an elephant grass hybrid with millet. Once these are complete, the BIO4Africa partners will start testing the biorefining technology on the leaves of Mucuna beans, alfalfa and other green-leaf crops supplied by local farmers. The ambition is to get crop and livestock farmers working in circular harmony – where crop farmers supply biomass to the biorefinery, which produces feed products for livestock farmers, who then deliver manure back to the fields as a fertiliser.

Based on experience gained in Uganda, a second green biorefinery will be established in Ghana during 2023. The plants are part of a series of bio-based technologies piloted through the BIO4Africa project to improve the sustainability and climate-resilience of smallholder farming, create new sources of revenue for farmers and strengthen food security.

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