Fourteenth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

The artisanal processing of food still remains a major problem for food security in Africa and in Cameroon in particular. The quality of processed products hygienically and nutritionally could depend on types of machines, methods of processing and the operator’s health. So far there is a lack of information related to milling activities in Cameroon. This work falls in line with the quest to optimize the quality of food consumed in Cameroon. The objective of this work is to study and evaluate the socio-economical and technical characteristics of grinding mills in Cameroon. For this purpose, a survey was conducted on 100 randomly selected grinding mills distributed over 22 quarters in Dschang city Town. The questionnaire was made up of 73 questionnaires divided into six sections. With respect to the survey, direct measurements and observations were also carried out. The mapping of millers was done using ArcGis software. The collected data were codified and analyzed using Excel 2021 and spss 21.0 respectively. The main results were as follows: Women are involved in milling activity. 56.7% of millers depend only on food process activity. The cost of food processingvary from 1$ to 1.5$/kg. Technically 92.6% of millers possess the hammer mil machine and the flattener type. The machine life span ranges from 5 to 7 years. Both types of machines are made up of iron and metal sheets which could have negative effect on processed food. A strong and positive correlation (+0.99%) was observed between machine type and repairs frequency.