Report on workshops to evaluate and introduce a new processing technology for making sorghum malt to trainers of artisanal sorghum processors in Tamale and Zebilla

Abstract

As part of the IFAD/ICRISAT/FRI/SARI Sorghum Development Project, a series ofworkshops were held between September and November, 2001, in Tamale and Zebilla to evaluate and demonstrate a simple technology developed by the CSIR-FRI to improve the production of malt from three new varieties of sorghum produced by the CSIR-SARI. The three varieties are Kapaala, Kadaga and Mankaraga. The workshop was also to establish the main desirable sensory quality attributes of pita, produced using the Dagati or Frafra methods. Pita is a local alcoholic beverage brewed from malted sorghum grains Twenty-five participants who were mainly field officers of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture from the Women in Agriculture Directorate, officers of ACTIONAID, Ghana Bawku West and some artisanal sorghum processors attended the workshops. The technology introduced was the separation of small-sized grains from large-sized grains, malting them separately before mixing to be used for brewing pita. The technology was introduced through a participatory approach in which the participants malted the grains according to the new technology and compared it to the old method. Two of sorghum processors, one in Tamale and another Zebilla, were given samples and provided with money to use the new technology and all attested to the fact the method greatly improved quality of pito. The workshop clearly established the technology is very useful in helping to optimise the quality of malt for the brewing of pito. What remained to be done was to design appropriate local sieving machinery/equipment that can adequately separate the grains into small and large-sized grains. The workshop also revealed that there were clear differences in the sensory quality attributes of pito brewed from the different varieties. The methods used, whether the Dagati or the Frafra also significantly affected the sensory attributes