Soy Food Processing System Feeds Hundreds Daily

A special fund, provided by an American company, feeds approximately 500 South African children daily. The fund supports the World Soy Foundation’s efforts with a youth cooperative created to produce and sell soy milk in the Orange Farm Township in Johannesburg. The World Soy Foundation provided a “SoyCow” food processing system, product installation and training to two private voluntary organizations: Joint Aid Management (JAM) and INMED Partnerships for Children. JAM worked with the local township government to identify 10 dynamic young adults and a location to set up the SoyCow micro-enterprise.

The “SoyCow” machine was installed, the people were trained and the products launched in early January. Part of the agreement in the creation of this small enterprise, named "To Taste" in the Zulu language, was that the cooperative would give soy milk to 10 daycare centers in the area. The agreement requires the cooperative to donate more than 10,000 liters of soy milk to the community a year. In addition, they are already able to ensure the program's sustainability by selling soymilk, okara chips and soy nuts. Their marketing plan includes more outside sales in high traffic areas and eventually door-to-door sales.  Funding for this project is provided by Monsanto.