Craving for some meat? How about a Test Tube burger?

The lab grown burger.Photo Courtesy AFP

A month ago, i had a chance of being part of an agricultural conference whose major themes were etched on how Africa can realize the elusive goal of food security. Of particular interest, was the keynote address by one of the speakers during the Youth, Education and Farming session. She teased that with the static trend of many youths not having an interest in agriculture coupled with the dire need to feed a growing population, in the near future, food production might shift  from the farms to the laboratories with our consumption consisting of mainly  insects and  food pills. This evoked some laughter and some giggles could be heard here and there. That was not possible. Yeah, Not in our time .Definitely not now.

Fast forward to August and actually the occurrences are talking place already. Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN recently released a publication titled "Edible insects.Future prospects for food and feed security" that outlines major edible insects of the world and the role they can play in the looming global food insecurity. And that is not all.

Just a week ago, Sergey Brin, the Google co-founder startled the world by investing close to 250,000 euros to create the world's first lab made burger. This was made possible by a team of researchers led by Dr Mark Post of Maastricht University. For a period of five years, they had researched on how to grow the said beef in the lab using  stem cells from a cow's muscle. With some beetroot juice, butter, sunflower oil and muscle stem cells , the burger was up and ready for testing.Their research objective of producing meat in the lab which is identical to the normal meat seemed close to being realized.

The Reasons behind this........
As Brin revealed during the beef tasting event in London last week, his  idea came about after seeing how animals were treated in the process of ensuring the final beef comes to your table.A process he repeatedly stated he wasn't comfortable with.

Sergey explaining why he funded the first test tube hamburger

Dr Post displaying the lab made burger.Photo David Parry EPA

Dr Post on the other hand accepted to take lead in the said research after considering how global meat production is affecting the environment in terms of increases in GHGs emissions and pollution. He views cows as inefficient animals which utilizes close to 100g of vegetable protein to manufacture only 15g of edible protein.If lab made beef became evident, it would imply that less feed would be utilized hence the saving on production resources and also a reduction in  methane production,a major constituent of the green houses gases and usually produced by cows.

More questions than answers?
The test tube burger is one that hasn't failed to bring forth some heated topics on its contribution to the global food security given the increasing  population numbers.A majority of countries in the world really on livestock for their livelihoods. Back home, close to 70% of the population rely on livestock for their daily livelihoods. Does this burger in any way promise a better standing for them?

What of the nutritional value and taste derived from the burger.Is it another junk food type in the making? Also the description of the taste by the attendants was "the burger tastes like a protein cake". Some went ahead to state that only when you closed your eyes and imagined the burger, would you tend to feel its taste similar to the beef ones.

Also it raises the question on why do meat consumers prefer meat over other food types? Is it because of its appearance in the reddish, muscle state or is it because of its taste? My Maasai friends once told me that the blood and fat are the major components making meat tasty and juicy. What now?

During last year's World Water Day whose  theme was "Water and Food Security" , meat is rated as one of most water intensive products. It takes 20 times more water to get 500 calories from beef than from rice. But, the discrepancy comes in to place as to whether the world ready for Test tube burgers while most of the smallholder farmers in developing countries are grappling with issues like lack of access to finances, lack of available extension services,

All said and tasted, the big question still remains. Is the world ready for some test tube burgers? And  can lab grown meat satisfy the  increasing demand for meat globally? What are your thoughts on the same?

Call for Agricultural concept notes: Innovation Incubator Fund 2013

Deadline: 20 July 2013.

Farm Africa is an international non-governmental organisation (INGO) that works in remote and resource-poor rural areas in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda to end hunger and bring prosperity to rural Africa.

Their vision is a prosperous rural Africa. We reduce poverty permanently by unleashing African farmers’ abilities to grow their incomes and manage their natural resources sustainably. We work with farmers, pastoralists, agro–pastoralists, smallholders, forest dwellers and other stakeholders to develop, test and support roll out of successful solutions to achieve long-term improvements in their lives.

Maendeleo Agricultural Enterprise Fund (MAEF) is a grant-making fund that aims to sustainably improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in East Africa by investing in innovative agri-business enterprises that seek to either create or adapt technologies for improving agricultural productivity, increasing profitability and linking smallholder farmers to viable, profitable and sustainable markets. Any of such entities as described in the eligibility criteria are encouraged to apply. We address these through key themes in light of the changing global trends, communities felt needs and existing climatic and environmental challenges. MAEF will help promote successful solutions that improve livelihoods and increase resilience of vulnerable smallholder farmers.

The MAEF Innovation Incubator Fund is one of the MAEF’s funding streams that will provide small grants support to innovative agricultural ideas.This is a call for innovative ideas to incubate from MAEF’s Innovation Incubator Fund (IIF). The key focus is that it will lead to a proof of concept that has the potential to develop into successful, sustainable, scalable, replicable and viable commercial businesses that would profit and improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the East Africa region.

Philosophy of the MAEF Innovation Incubator Fund

The Innovation Incubator Fund will invest in innovative ideas with recognised potential at an early stage. It will help grantees to refine and strengthen their ideas and, where appropriate test their modifications/adaptations at a limited scale (a few farmers groups with about 100 farmers). It will be a channel to promote and strengthen agricultural innovation and ‘Research and Development’ at the field level.
The Innovation Incubator Fund will further develop innovations that meet the priorities and needs of smallholder farmers.
It will fund project ideas for a period of 12 to 18 months. The funding grant level is GBP13,650.
Farm Africa’s MAEF team will guide and monitor the project development and build the capacity of grantees. At the end of the grant period, the grantees will have a fully developed proposal and will be in a stronger position to apply for further funding to implement their approach from MAEF’s Competitive Value Chain Fund and other grant-making organisations / financing institutions.

  

Eligibility

1. Country and geographical focus: This application is open to applicants operating within the specified regions of East Africa that is Kenya (Central and Nairobi Counties), Uganda (Central and peri-urban Kampala regions) and Tanzania (Morogoro and Pwani Regions)
2. Applicants should have a track record in agricultural development and agri-business in those countries; have proven capacity to manage grant funds and fall under the categories as listed below

Category 1: Local non-governmental organisations (LNGOs), community-based organisations (CBOs), farmer associations
Ideal requirements
For existing business entity: Applicant should provide:

• Evidence of an existing and ongoing innovative idea that can work with smallholder farmers.
• Evidence of how this grant will ensure full development of the idea to a proof of concept of an innovative business.

For non-existing business entity: Applicant should provide:

• Indication of supporting and working with smallholder farmers.
• Indication on how the applicant will work with private companies, SMEs, or business agencies to develop the idea further in order to support smallholder farmers

Category 2: Private companies (agri-business firms, small and medium enterprises -SMEs, cooperatives, farmer business agencies), academia, and research organisations and individuals
Applicant should provide:

• Clearly explained innovative idea and what the gaps are that once unlocked will support smallholder farmers profitably.
• Indication of some commercially sustainable and profitable relationship with smallholder farmers or groups.
• Indication of how this grant will help commercialise and sustain the business or develop a business plan with a fundable idea
• Evidence of working with farmer groups/CBOs that support and organise smallholder farmers in the supply chain to link up with either a company, business or an enterprise

3. Applicants should not have an ongoing Farm Africa funded project. The idea should be innovative with a potential for further development. They should demonstrate potential to form effective synergistic partnerships with technology innovators, researchers, business development service providers/or organisation, extension service providers and business firms such as financial institutions, quality assurance organisations, commodity processors and buyers where applicable.

 

 How to apply

Stage 1: Interested applicants should submit Concepts Notes on the Innovative Idea using the prescribed business plan template (Word)
Stage 2: Only successful applicants from stage 1 will be contacted.
Stage 3: For those who successfully go through stage 2, discussions and due diligence processes will follow.

Application deadline

The applications MUST be submitted by email to maef-info@farmafrica.org by 20 July 2013.
Successful applicants will be contacted by Farm Africa’s MAEF representative at each stage.

 Reblogged from Farm Africa's Website. Find the original post HERE