Zahra Food, JICA launch breakfast bars made with ingredients from refugees

Agro-processor Zahra Food Industries Ltd has partnered Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Uganda to launch the Blossomz revive breakfast bars, a cereal bar uniquely made with ingredients sourced from the refugee communities in Uganda.

The Blossomz revive breakfast bars are made from 100 per cent natural breakfast ingredients, including cereals, tropical fruits, nuts and honey with more than 50 per cent uniquely sourced from refugee communities in Uganda.

Every bite not only rises to the occasion of the most important meal of the day as it restores essential nutrients for the body and mind, it also cements solidarity with the refugee communities in regaining their economic independence. The project dubbed Travel Beyond Bars aims to improve the livelihood of refugees and their host communities.

“We firmly believe that addressing social impact requires substantial, structural change rather than merely addressing surface symptoms,” said Quresh Fidahu- sein, founder at Zahra Food Industries.

“Through this transformative project, we are committed to empowering refugee communities, providing them with sustainable opportunities for economic self-reliance and thereby contributing to their long-term resilience and well-being.”

CONTEXT

As the refugee crisis peaks world over, the funding is dipping due to other competing global events such as Covid-19, the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza conflicts. In Uganda, this has led to a decline in refugee assistance in terms of cash allowances and land allocations, both critical to their survival.

There is therefore a growing interest among governments and international organizations in the private sector’s potential role as an alternate source of funding and delivery of refugee support.

While integration of refugees into commercial activities by the private sector, especially by social enterprises is not entirely new, most of these interventions have been on a smaller-scale and in non-food sectors focussing on crafts and textiles to harness the immense talents and expertise of refugees, especially that of women.

Refugees in Uganda widely engage in agricultural activities since the key settlement strategy in the country is to allocate parcels of land to steer them to self-reliance.

A private-sector initiative that centers on value-addition within agriculture therefore is innovative and has the potential for a more wide-scale impact; not to mention the opportunities that it creates towards the advancement of food security.

At the inception stage of the Travel Beyond Bars project, Zahra Food Industries Ltd is working with refugees and their host communities at the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement located on the shores of Lake Albert.