Department of Food Science Nutrition and Technology

The University of Nairobi through the Departments of Food Science, Nutrition and Technology and Plant Science and crop protection have been supporting local groups to add value to fruits and vegetables including mango. Karurumo group has been funded through efforts of University activities lead by Prof. Jane Ambuko while Dr. G. Abong has been instrumental to ensure proper quality of processed products.

The University of Nairobi Vice Chancellor Prof. Stephen Gitahi Kiama  had a  live address to the University of Nairobi  community about the restructuring of the University on 14TH JULY 2021

The Department celebrates the achievement of Ndeme Judith Katumbi who emerged 1st in the whole faculty of agriculture among the 5 departments during the academic year 2017/2018 in the just concluded prize giving day. This auspicious occasion is meant to identify talents and encourage the current group of students to focus and work hard for a better tomorrow.

The Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Technology and Plant Science and Crop Protection anchored and international practical training on postharvest loss reduction and waste management to make their contribution through capacity building. The course was attended by over 70 participants across the globe. The department continue to take its position as a training hub.

After 3 months of coaching on business pitching of innovative ideas, Vilgro brought together 5 finalists in a virtual bootcamp to pitch their business ideas for funding. Among the 5 finalists included Pera foods, a start up that is the brain child of Duke Gekonge, a PhD student in the Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Technology. Pera foods has come up with innovations from guava (pera) and is seeking to scale up the activities to reach the wider market.

IUFoST held and informative virtual webinar to highlight the role and value of traditional foods based on the diverse cultures across the globe. Professionals in the field of food science show cased the different types of foods in the different countries and continents. Prof. Ruth Oniang’o made an elaborate presentation on the African and Kenyan foods. The meeting was attended by scientists drawn across the 6 continents.

The University of Nairobi hosted a virtual webinar titled, ‘Pan-African COVID-19 and Food Safety Webinar’ on April 28, 2021. The meeting brought together experts across the African continent (Kenya, Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa, Senegal), USA and Denmark.

FRUVASE Project, Fruits and Vegetables for all seasons project which is a collaborative project being coordinated by Germany partner involves Kenya, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. The University of Nairobi is part of the research team that is drawn from Departments of Food Science, Nutrition and Technology, Animal Science, Plant Science and Crop Protection. The project supports 4 MSc. And 2 PhD students who participated in the progress meeting.

University staff took part in virtual training to enhance their skills in the use of online platforms as means of students’ instruction. As art of the university enhancement of online learning, this training was held on April 12, 2021. DFSNT academic staff participated in this training.

In a virtual held virtually, the MSC students from the Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Technology made their research proposal presentations. The eleven students drawn from two programmes, Applied Human Nutrition and Food Safety and Quality presented research titles cutting across food safety, food quality, product development, assessment of nutritional status as well as practices in the community that affect different segments of the population.