Location: Headquarters, Lusaka

The mandate of the programme is to develop post harvest food processing technologies and provide services for the food industry and communities that will improve the quality of life.

Within this mandate the programme is carrying out three research projects:

Production of fuel grade ethanol from locally available raw materials

The project overall objective is to produce fuel grade ethanol from locally available feed stock to be used as stand alone or blend in gasoline engines.

The project has used Mpundu and Sweet Sorghum to produce wine for distillation. 

It is collaborating with the Energy, Water and Environment programme to conduct distillation activities.

Utilisation of Moringa in fighting Malnutrition

The overall objective is to reduce malnutrition through provision of Moringa food supplements.

The activities of this project involved collection of Moringa (leaves, pods and flowers) different parts of Southern and Central Provinces. The second phase is formulation of Moringa supplement foods and sensory evaluation. This is to be tested on a selected sample group.

Evaluating Metabolic Composition of HIV-Infected people on ARVs in Zambia

Nisir is a collaborating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on this project. The Institute has received training fellowships and equipment from the IAEA to facilitate smooth implementation of the project.

The main objective of the study is to assess the impact of food supplement on the nutrition of and health status of HIV- infected people on ARVs in Zambia.

The project is using conventional methods and isotopic techniques to determine body mass.

Effects of traditional processing methods on the retention of provitamin A in products of fortified maize (Orange Maize)

The main objective of this study is to measure the retention of pro-vitamin A in bio-fortified Maize during traditional methods of storage and processing into common Zambian products.

The study is being supported by Harvest-Plus.