REFRIGERATION AND FOOD AND NUTRITIONAL SELF-SUFFICIENCY!

Can refrigeration help achieve food and nutritional self-sufficiency?

This is the big question posed by journalist MAHAMADOU Almoctar from the newspaper RACINES. MAHAMADOU Almoctar participated, along with about sixty journalists, in the webinar organized by U-3ARC on January 14, 2025, on the theme "Refrigeration and Air Conditioning: Its Challenges for Sustainable Socio-Economic Development and the Freedom of Peoples in Africa."

In the following lines, journalist MAHAMADOU Almoctar provides an analysis of the contribution of the refrigeration sector in Sahelian countries and urges governments to take action.

We present his analysis in full. Read more !!!

Can refrigeration help achieve food and nutritional self-sufficiency?

I had never asked myself this question before participating in the webinar held on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, around 3 PM. A webinar attended by about sixty journalists from Burundi, Rwanda, Cameroon, Niger, and Burkina Faso. This webinar was, it should be noted, led by Madi SAKANDE, an expert in refrigeration and an international consultant for numerous UN agencies operating in the refrigeration sector. He is the President of Union of Associations of African Actors in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (U-3ARC).

What is it about?

Madi Sakandé, having spent time observing the various aspects of mercury in its lowest forms, has over time risen to a level significantly higher than many of his fellow citizens on the subject. The webinar in question sufficiently proves this and places it in a logic of sharing hot information about cold. Right from the start, the expert points out that the transition between different states of matter (liquid, gas, and solid) is governed by heat: “ Refrigeration does not exist. Refrigeration is the absence of heat,” he asserts. As you know, in the Sahel, mercury has been in all its states in recent years. Its peaks of anger are at the limit of bearable. Many people have experienced this firsthand, especially last year in 2024 when floods affected almost all the countries in this geographical area of Africa. But not only that. Heat pushed to its extreme has also caused casualties.

Should we then remain idle, waiting as usual for the West to dictate our course of action?

Nowadays, we must convince ourselves of one thing: “ Refrigeration must no longer be a comfort reserved for an elite. It is simply a tool for sustainable development.”

Indeed, to protect the health of populations living in the Sahel, we must improve their working conditions, but also and especially preserve food in the perspective of food sovereignty. Therefore, we must pursue policies within our means. Let us imagine for a moment life in our offices where remarkable work is done by state agents and those in the private sector; or even at home, if there were no air conditioning to create a pleasant living environment. Everyone knows that it is impossible to endure in these so-called modern buildings made of concrete with iron underneath and most openings closed with glass. These shelters are at the opposite of our traditional mud houses or straw huts built by our grandparents. They were true experts who adapted better to their environment.I do not ask that we return to huts in this twenty-first century. But let us remember that previously, behind these straw huts, agriculture was practiced that allowed our grandparents to live. And this is where I wanted to go, because nowadays we must find a way to preserve our increasingly significant agricultural production in quantity.

Let us clarify the following:

Some cereals can be stored for a long time once dried in the sun. Some foods can be heated to be preserved longer, even if they may change in physical appearance. What about dairy products, vegetables, certain fruits, meats, fish, etc., which have a short shelf life if left unattended ? Only a well-maintained refrigeration chain, as it has its requirements, allows for long preservation without changing the physical appearance of our food. Large quantities of food are lost daily in our countries either due to the absence of a refrigeration chain or its poor use. Indeed, freezing, removing food from the refrigeration chain, and refreezing can sometimes be very dangerous for our health.

Should we continue to lose large quantities of food when they are not enough for everyone ?

Should we stop producing and thus lose colossal sums of money before even recording them, due to a lack of means of preservation in the cold chain ? “Who wants to go far takes care of their mount,” they say. Therefore, we must anticipate. Indeed, Africa must stop dancing and singing for a while to anticipate in all essential areas of life so as not to be “surprised by more austere peoples,” as Henri Lopez aptly stated. To do this, let us start by identifying the actors involved in the refrigeration sector. We must adequately equip them through training and then support them with appropriate working materials. We could then project ourselves in a certain way and confidently respond to all the meetings of the peoples of the world without embarrassment.

It is often said: “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”

If we say that refrigeration is expensive, we will undoubtedly spend more money fixing the problems related to the lack of refrigeration in the future. To illustrate, let us take a simplistic example. Let us try to place a certain amount of food on a plate in the open air and another plate in a refrigerator. After two days, which food would you be able to consume without hesitation ? The answer is known to all. Indeed, at the moment when the contents of the plate left in the open air will be in an advanced state of decomposition, that preserved in the refrigeration will remain intact thanks to the refrigeration and can be consumed without risk and perhaps even with more appetite than at the start. At this level, it can be noted that “ refrigeration extends the edibility of our food.”

Imagine that these are significant quantities of food and the loss that would result from the absence of the refrigeration chain. We can say here without risk of being wrong that “if production were a locomotive, refrigeration would undoubtedly be the rails.” According to our expert, in African countries, the lack of refrigeration preservation is responsible for losses estimated at about 70% of fishery products. The relative amount of income is enormous and leads to a significant loss. Training refrigeration technicians in new techniques in the field becomes a MUST. It is also necessary to accompany the training with awareness sessions at various levels of responsibility. In terms of production, a significant loss has been observed post-harvest in areas where the refrigeration chain is not accessible to markets, sometimes due to a lack of roads. The refrigeration chain, as we can see, can indeed contribute to increasing food and nutritional security and thus contribute to economic growth.

In the Sahel, the question of cold is always approached with a certain apprehension: “ refrigeration is expensive,” they say!

This is true in our countries where electricity is costly. But it also depends on the angle from which we view the problem. With the advent of the Sahel States Alliance (A.E.S), the Sahel is at a decisive turning point in its history regarding sovereignty. Therefore, no one will act for our good in our place. It is so good, if not imperative, to take the lead to anticipate all development issues. To do this, we must have a broad perspective to diagnose the problems. We must especially be able to ask the right questions about the continent's progress concerning current issues. Climate change, for example, which impacts Africa just like the rest of the world to varying degrees, is an important and current topic. The leaders of the A.E.S, whom I salute not out of demagoguery but from deep and sincere respect for their vision, have given the impetus for sovereignty. It is therefore up to us, the populations of the Sahel, each in their sphere of competence, to reflect on what “the A.E.S can give us, but what we can offer to this alliance.”

Why then not consider creating a federal agency of the A.E.S for the development of REFRIGERATION ?

It is through options like this that actors in the cold sector can anticipate and fully play their role as vanguards.

MAHAMADOU Almoctar

RACINES