Along the west coast of Africa, where more than 2 million smallholder farmers are responsible for producing 70 percent of the world’s cocoa supply, cocoa farming is a way of life. Despite being one of the world’s top producers of cocoa, most of the value is created after the cocoa beans reach the Global North for additional processing. To supply consumers with safe and delicious cocoa, and add value on the continent of Africa, Ivorian entrepreneur Olga Yenou launched Tafissa, or “to lick your fingers” in the Baoulé language, a cocoa processing company based in Côte d’Ivôire.

“The smile of a child or the satisfaction of an older person after consuming our chocolate is priceless in our eyes,” said Olga. “Our vision is to see Côte d’Ivoire become the leading cocoa processor and consumer.” In order to achieve their goal of sharing their chocolate with everyone, Olga reached out to Partners in Food Solutions and their network of expert volunteers for support in improving their food safety systems. “HACCP training is very important to us because it ensures that Tafissa chocolate is manufactured safely and our customers can feel good about purchasing from us. Partnering with PFS and its volunteers enabled us to put together a program that was just right for us.”

For several months, a team of project volunteers from Cargill, Hershey, Ardent Mills, and General Mills worked together to prepare Tafissa for future HACCP audits, including training their operators. “The whole project was very pleasant,” said Olga. “We learned a lot about different hazard assessment methods and our need to make some equipment purchases such as metal detectors. What we liked most was when the volunteers shared their various food safety experiences and the fellowship we had throughout the project.”

Tafissa’s journey to achieving its food safety goals continues. Tafissa is currently looking at certain equipment investments, guided by volunteer recommendations, and is in the process of making improvements to its processing systems to prepare for a future HACCP audit.

With its population set to double by 2050, Africa is the fastest-growing continent in the world and is on track to hold more than 25% of the world’s total population. As the continent continues to grow and industrialize, ensuring food safety has never been more important. Africa currently suffers from the world’s highest per capita rate of food-borne illness, resulting in 91 million acute illnesses and more than one hundred thousand deaths each year. To ensure safe food for communities across Africa, food processing companies are implementing advanced food safety measures such as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and ISO 22000 food safety management systems.

One company that recently underwent this process was PFS client Rabboni Group in Uganda. Rabboni Group is a maize milling company located in Mukono District, Uganda. They’re eager to grow and supply local and global communities with healthy and safe products. However, the company lacked food safety management prerequisites that are required for any food processing company intending to access bigger markets. The
company chose to work with Partners in Food Solutions and its expert volunteer network for support.

Helping Rabboni Group to improve their food safety was Cargill Food Safety, Quality and Regulation Director Jayd Kittelson. With more than 17 years of industry experience, Jayd was the perfect person to help Rabboni Group reach its goals. “Throughout my career, I’ve gained a lot of exposure to best practices in the food safety space,” said Jayd. “Projects like this allow me to share my food processing knowledge with others who need it, as well as learn myself.”

For several months, Jayd and the project team worked together with Rabboni Group to understand their old processing systems, review GMP pre-requisites, and develop food safety program templates and manuals that would guide the company toward achieving additional food safety certifications. Since the project closed earlier this year, company operations have greatly improved, according to Wabulembo Fazil, a quality controller at Rabboni Group. “We started with personal hygiene and sanitation improvements, and have continued to upgrade the maintenanc of the site and structures guided by the GMP documentation created by the PFS volunteers. The pest control program has provided our company with a lot of savings.”

Rabboni Group now has its sights set on achieving additional food safety certifications including HACCP and ISO 22000, which Jayd and the volunteer team have already agreed to support. “I have worked on many PFS projects in the past and I continue to be impressed with the talent within the food safety and quality space in Africa,” said Jayd. “I keep volunteering because I am inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of PFS clients and their passion for improvement.”

Palm oil is a staple ingredient used across Rwanda and Africa, serving as an essential ingredient in popular dishes like Nigerian jolif rice and Ivorian sticky alloco plantains. Africa consumes significantly more palm oil than it produces, importing nearly 8 million tons of palm oil in 2020 to meet demand. What was once one of the cheaper cooking oils, is now rivaling other oils like sunflower and soy with prices continuing to rise due to food system shocks like supply chain challenges and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This volatility in availability and price puts a spotlight on the challenges of depending on imported cooking oil and emphasizes the need to increase Africa’s own production capacity.

Cooperative Le Palmier based in Kigali, Rwanda is helping ensure African consumers have access to affordable and safe palm oil. Established in 2015, Cooperative Le Palmier produces refined palm oil and sells it to supermarkets in the city as well as local rural markets. “In order to meet the growing demand for cooking oil across Africa, we needed assistance in improving our operations and the safety of our products,” said Mr. Rumiya Kamari, managing director of Cooperative Le Palmier. “Partnering with PFS gave us access to the right experts to do that.”

Yenny Lizarazo, a food safety and quality supervisor, has been working at Cargill for five years and is responsible for ensuring that products that leave the plants meet the food safety standards required by its customers. “My main motivation for volunteering with PFS is to gain an experience that allows me to do something different from my daily work and help others,” said Yenny. “Working with Cooperative Le Palmier gave me the opportunity to learn about oil production. And although the regulations are similar, there were some differences so I had to learn about their processes specifically, which was a fun learning experience for me.”

By working together, Yenny and Cooperative Le Palmier have been able to put together the necessary documentation needed to do fortification of Cooperative Le Palmier’s palm oil and have improved its operations and the safety of its product. “As most of our staff are not skilled enough in GMP and quality control, Yenny has been a great resource with her expertise and experience in developing different documentation which is currently being used in our operations,” said Mr. Rumiya. “We now have a better understanding of the food processing framework compared to before and believe this is a strong base for growth.”

Please share a little about yourself and your role at Ardent Mills.My name is Kent Juliot and I have had the privilege of serving
Ardent Mills as Vice President of Research, Quality, and Tech
Services. I have 37 years of experience in the food industry within
quality, food safety, food production, and research on everything
from soup to nuts.

How does volunteering with Partners in Food Solutions help
Ardent Mills employees live out their purpose?
Ardent Mills’ four core values are trust, serving, simplicity, and
safety. While PFS helps us accomplish all of these, ‘serving’ stands
out and our teammates have embraced volunteering for PFS
projects as one of the key ways of living out our value of service.

How can volunteering with Partners in Food Solutions help
Ardent Mills employees develop new skills and/or grow as a
leader?
Our volunteers have so many stories of how they grew through
their PFS experience. It is always fun to hear from other team
members about what they’ve learned from other volunteers at
other companies that would not be possible without being part of
PFS. Others tell stories of gaining self-confidence, helping others in
Africa, and gaining new skills that they contribute to their day-to-day
job. Growth in technical and/or people skills is almost guaranteed
when signing up as a PFS volunteer.

If someone is interested in volunteering but may be hesitant to
start, what would you say to them?
If you are right out of school or have decades of experience, your
knowledge can help someone in Africa. If you are willing, there is a
spot for you at PFS. Even if you may not be an “expert”, someone
else on the project team may know or someone in your network
may be able to help. Just jump in!

What is the most important thing about Partners in Food
Solutions?
PFS is a practical way to share knowledge that serves others. With
PFS, you get to share your skills and see exactly what the impact is.
It is so much more rewarding to see for yourself that you have made
a direct impact in people’s lives that need help.

“I’m incredibly grateful to be part of an organization that strongly promotes volunteer work,” said Susana Godoy Bailey, administrative manager at Ardent Mills. Originally from Venezuela, Susana has been with the company for eight years and most recently moved to Canada to serve in her current role at the Streetsville, Ontario flour mill. “I was very excited to have the chance to contribute in any possible way to making a positive impact in someone’s life,” said Susana. “Also, the chance to learn from other cultures was a huge motivation for me to volunteer with PFS.”

Susana started volunteering with Partners in Food Solutions in March 2021 and a few weeks later was matched with client Reel Fruit in Nigeria as their Client Lead. Client Leads work with one client at a time, serving as their project manager to ensure project teams are supported and projects get completed in a timely manner. “My favorite part about being a Client Lead is definitely witnessing the incredible teamwork dynamic between the customer, volunteers, and PFS,” she said. “This experience is such a lesson in life and to witness the progress of the project from the beginning to its completion is an incredibly rewarding experience.”

Earlier this year, Susana took on her second Client Lead role with PFS client Zatwa in Côte d’Ivoire. “Susana has been so proactive in understanding Zatwa’s two projects and ask-an-expert,” said Bernadette Arthur, PFS program associate in Ghana. “Susana wields great emotional intelligence, a clear sense of direction, and an eye for detail and administrative tasks. On one project call for Zatwa, she helped the project team set S.M.A.R.T. goals to reach the project deliverables, which increased the productivity of the project team. I was very impressed with her ability to make the team feel comfortable and share concerns and questions.” As a program associate, Bernadette is responsible for supporting the West Africa portfolio which includes Ghana, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire. Bernadette’s portfolio alone includes 40+ clients and 85+ different services. “Client leads like Susana are vital to helping break down a project into more manageable pieces. My relationship with client leads is a partnership. They help us deliver the best services to our clients and ensure our volunteer teams are having a meaningful experience working on the project.”

Now that she has overseen several projects, Susana said, “Volunteering can be done if you have the time and the passion to do it. Having all the expertise isn’t needed because there is a team of PFS staff, volunteers, and the client all working together to make sure everyone feels supported and is successful in their role. Volunteering with PFS is truly an incredible experience and by serving together we can make incredible things happen.”