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Child Haven International
– Donner Canadian Foundation
VitaGoat Project - India
Malnutrition Matters, with sponsorship from Child Haven
International and funding from the Donner Foundation Canada, completed
a project in India in May 2006 which involved a technology transfer
and several VitaGoat pilot sites.
Project Overview: The technology transfer for
manufacturing of the VitaGoat was completed in late 2005. Since then,
over 20 systems have been manufactured and shipped by G.D. Machines
in India, including 3 systems installed in India. The placement of
the three VitaGoat pilot systems is as follows: one at the Adhyatma
Sadhna Kendra Ashram in Delhi, the second in the rural village
of Antapali in Orissa, via the NGO Bharat Integrated Social Welfare
Agency (BISWA). The third VitaGoat is being installed in August 2007
in the village of Banki (near Cuttack in Orissa) , in cooperation
with the NGO BAAHKP. A second phase of the project in India, funded
by Donner Foundation Canada, under the auspices of Child Haven International,
is underway, with the objective of installing 3 more VitaGoats with
the use of micro-credit, and installing a prototype fruit and vegetable
dryer.
Technology Transfer
The VitaGoat manufacturer in Faridabad, G.D.
Machines, has manufactured and shipped 15 systems. The
system price, before taxes, has been reduced to a pretax price
of US $ 3,500 for systems sold in India and neighbouring countries.
In summary, Malnutrition Matters together with G.D Machines,
under the sponsorship of Child Haven, has achieved a successful
technology transfer with a locally manufactured VitaGoat
of high quality and a before-tax price of about one-third of
those manufactured in Canada.
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Partnerships and VitaGoat Pilot Sites
A demonstration of the VitaGoat at the Adhyatma Sadhna
Kendra Ashram in Delhi in April produced soymilk, tofu, peanut
butter, and ground idli flour mix (ground rice and lentils, which
is used for a type of breakfast dumplings). The VitaGoat is being
used to provide food on a daily basis, for residents of the Ashram
and for 250 needy people in the local neighbourhood.
The
VitaGoat in the village of Antapali in Orissa
is owned by several women’s Self-Help Groups, and is being
supervised by BISWA, a dynamic NGO with a substantial presence
in Orissa and neighbouring states. BISWA has helped to ensure
that the VitaGoat is providing midday meals for more than 700
school children on a self-sustaining basis, with revenue from
government-funded school feeding programs. This VitaGoat is
the first to be involved in school feeding programs for primary
school children in areas where there is widespread malnutrition
and no available electricity. It is envisioned that numerous
additional VitaGoats will be added to this program.
Small-scale Soy Industry in India :
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School children in rural Orissa drinking soymilk
from their lunch plates.
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Dr. Ratan Sharma, a soyfoods expert living in Delhi, has
been assisting Child Haven with value-added soy projects since the
early 90's. Dr. Sharma has been instrumental in promoting and expanding
the small-scale soy industry in India. Dr. Sharma's continued assistance
with the VitaGoat program will do much to ensure the acceptance of
this micro-enterprise system within federal and state government vocational
and entrepreneurial programs, as well as within the private sector.
The small-scale soy industry in India is growing by over 100% per
year. There are currently about 100 small-scale systems installed
throughout India, including training installations in several federal
and state-sponsored entrepreneurial programs. The majority of these
systems are SoyCows (previous generation to the VitaGoat). Great promise
for the VitaGoat exists in rural India where electricity is often
not available, due to lack of service entirely, or due to increasingly
lengthy blackouts. Therefore, there is great potential for the VitaGoat
to both piggyback on the growing success of the existing small-scale
soy processing enterprises, as well as to expand into the village
and rural areas to both produce soymilk and process other local fruits
and vegetables. The rural and village markets were not feasible for
the SoyCow due to cost ( a VitaGoat costs about $2000 less than the
SoyCow) and lack of consistently available electricity.
First
Steps VitaGoat Project - North Korea
First Steps is a Canadian-based Christian humanitarian organization
whose purpose is to prevent childhood malnutrition in the DPRK (North
Korea) through programs that provide essential nutrients to young
children. The First Steps program is centred on providing soymilk
and other nutrition to children in various institutions. As of March
2006, First Steps had 17 VitaCows in operation reaching more than
30,000 children in orphanages, daycares and schools located in the
cities of Nampo and Wonsan and Hyongjesan.
In 2005, First Steps ordered its first VitaGoat for the first of
several sites which have unreliable or no electricity. This first
system was installed with Frank Daller of Malnutrition Matters present
in March of 2006. Training was not difficult as the operators had
extensive experience with soymilk and the VitaCow - the electric cousin
of the VitaGoat.
 
First VitaGoat trial in Hongjesan
Left photo: Hot soymilk is released from the cooker (with boiler shown
at left).
Right photo: The cycle grinder is used to make the soy mash before
cooking.
In May of 2006, three more VitaGoats were shipped to the First Steps
program and installed in various sites.
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