Abstract
A survey was conducted in relation to the production process of dambu. Dambu is a staple food for the Fulanis and Hausas. A majority of the dambu dealers (42.7%) were less than 25 years old. A proportion of 78.7% of processors of dambu were females. The processors/consumers (37.4%) indicated that millet was the major raw material for dambu production. A significant difference (p = 0.01) existed among respondents on the variety of millet chosen for dambu production. The study reveals that ‘gero’ is the variety in common use. Spices are indispensable as an ingredient in dambu production with ginger being the single most important spice (p = 0.07). The traditional pounding method for processing millet into flour is still very much used. The processors (58.9%) and retailers (41.0%) generally agreed that the method of marketing dambu is by hawking in transparent low density polyethylene package. Sun drying as indicated by 35.3% of the respondents was the most common method of storing left-over dambu. Total percentage of 27.4, 39.2 and 33.4% were deduced for the poor, the middle and the rich class consumption of dambu, respectively. With increasing influence of advertising upon customers, small food processing enterprises making dambu will have to improve the packaging and preservation of their products as to survive the competition. The implications of these are highlighted and a possible solution of optimizing the dambu production process is recommended.
Key words: Ginger, cloves, dambu, millet, packaging, shelf-life.
