Maize processing in Ghana: a report on kenkey production

Abstract

A study covering 75 maize processors in five agro-ecological zones of Ghana was conducted to study the traditional maize processing industry in Ghana with special emphasis on the unit operations involved in the production of kenkey. The study established that kenkey production is an activity dominated by women, most of them with elementary or no formal education. Maize for processing was usually purchased from middlemen in the local markets in the areas where processing was carried out with majority of processors showing a preference for the local varieties of maize over the newly developed cultivars due to a claimed better swelling capacity of the local varieties. Maize was purchased and stored in kitchens, living rooms and on verandahs for periods of time ranging up to six weeks. A wide variation in the scale of kenkey production was evident with the majority processing between 2 and 20 kg of maize. The study showed that most processors followed the traditional method of kenkey production involving the stages of cleaning, steeping, milling, doughing, fermentation, aflata preparation, mixing and moulding into balls, wrapping and cooking. Distinct variations in steeping and fermentation times were however observed for the various zones. Most processors in the Coastal Scrub zone steeped maize for one or two days and fermented the resulting maize dough for 3 days whilst majority of processors from the other zones steeped maize for a period of 3 days and fermented the dough for one day. A few processors omitted the aflata preparation stage due to the labour intensive nature of that stage. The cooking time for kenkey varied from one to four hours. The major constraints facing kenkey processors were problems related to the heat generated by fires used during the aflata preparation and kenkey boiling stages. Financial and marketing problems were also named by some of the processors