Cheese, a universally cherished food made from whey, comes in many flavors and textures and has deep roots in many cultures with a long history. From creamy brie to rich blue cheese, each type embodies a unique heritage. Innovations in aging and healthcare continue to expand cheese options. It's not just a delicacy; it's an important business with a thriving business around the world. Whether as a snack, an ingredient, or a culinary delight, cheese remains a favorite throughout the world.
While Africa is not traditionally known as a cheese-producing continent, with neither strong traditions nor an ideal climate, there are many shepherds across the continent, from the Sahel to the highlands of Kenya’s Rift Valley, who have been using milk from their herds for generations, consuming it fresh or making it into yoghurt.
The growth of the African cheese industry can improve nutrition and protein intake, and help lift more farming families out of poverty, but its success depends on creating a demand for cheese.
A variety of cheeses, showcasing the diversity of the industry.
Early Dairy Farming in Africa
More than 7,000 years ago, prehistoric people in the African Sahara were making dairy products, such as butter, yogurt, and cheese. The discovery, based on the identification of dairy fats on ancient pottery shards found in Libya, is the first to provide a definitive date for early dairy farming in Africa.
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Adding to findings from Europe and the Middle East, the study points to milk products as a main reason why people in many places may have chosen to give up the hunter-gatherer lifestyle in favor of a more settled existence.
Evidence showed that some pots were used to hold plant oils. But many contained chemical signatures that were unambiguously from animal fats, the researchers report today in the journal Nature. Analyses revealed the remains of dairy products made from cow, goat and sheep’s milk, dating back to between 7,200 and 5,800 years ago.
At that time, Africans had not yet developed the genetic mutations that allow people to digest milk, according to other research. So, the Sahara’s lactose-intolerant dairy farmers were likely making yogurt and cheese rather than drinking straight from the udders of their animals.
Only after people learned to process dairy foods did their bodies develop the ability to drink pure milk -- through mutations that appear to have happened independently as many as three or four times in Africa.
Given their carbohydrate and nutrient profiles, dairy products would have been far superior to what people could get from hunting and gathering alone. And when our ancestors figured that out, society changed forever.
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The Rise of Cheesemaking in Rwanda
In 1994, Rwandan cheesemaker Samuel Ndoli returned to his homeland at the end of his country’s civil war. “I was hopeful for a bright future,” said Ndoli, who built the East African country’s first post-war cheesery five years later in Rubavu, Lake Kivu.
Lake Kivu on the border of Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Ndoli now provides an income to over 120 local farmers. His company Fromagerie la Reine utilises over 1,500 litres of milk, six days a week, to churn out freshly produced units of gouda, feta, cheddar, halloumi and ricotta, to 12 main buyers including a restaurant and hotel chain, supermarkets, and small quantities for export into neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.
His popular mozzarella is meeting demand for a growing fast-food sector, as pizza deliveries gain popularity in Kigali. “I dedicate one day a week to my family and the rest of the time I’m in my factory,” says the 69-year-old. “I’m passionate about transforming something raw into a value-added product. But I’m also proud of making new varieties of cheese that people here are not used to.”
Ndoli’s factory is equipped with modern machinery, allowing the cheesemaker to bring in revenues of $8,300 a month. Approximately 75% of Rwanda’s 12.6m people rely for their income on agriculture, which forms the backbone of Rwanda’s economy.
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Government Initiatives in Rwanda
The Rwandan government has begun a drive for increased cheese quality to help boost flagging dairy exports. The National Industrial Research and Development Agency (NIRDA) is embarking on a study to develop quality cheese that will investigate the quality of milk, processing machines, cow feed and transport.
Rwanda’s overall dairy exports, including milk, cheese, and yoghurt, dropped by 7,000 tonnes between 2018 and 2019, according to a report by the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB). Rwanda currently imports more than 40 tonnes of cheese each year.
A 500g unit of imported Gouda cheese typically costs around $7 in an upmarket Kigali supermarket, while locally-made Gouda is sold at less than half that price.
Dairy constitutes 6% of Rwanda’s GDP but the sector faces a number of obstacles from cow to consumer, says Savio Hakirumurame, from the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources.
Farmers lack adequate access to finance to procure modern machinery, despite the Rwanda Development Bank increasing loans to farmers by 118% between 2012 and 2017. Improvements are needed in animal genetics and nutrition, and the quality and reliability of cheeses and other dairy products needs enhancing.
“There is a quality scheme called S-mark that’s been introduced and it’s currently one of the market requirements to supply hotels, some restaurants and supermarkets,” says Hakirumurame.
“Of course cheese produced in Rwanda is of good quality and its appreciated by many, but a lot of effort is to be put into improving cheesemakers’ professionalisation in terms of good manufacturing practices, and in diversification of new cheese varieties. In terms of food safety, those who are S-mark certified are in a good position to export to other countries.”
Dairy farmers in Gishwati - one of Rwanda’s biggest milk-producing regions, manufacturing up to 90,000 litres per day - are expected to benefit from 93km of new feeder roads to help bring produce to market, funded by part of a $68m grant from the World Bank to improve infrastructure in the region.
Rwanda’s national cattle herd was 1.3m in 2019, according to a report from the Dutch government. Agricultural products account for 63% of export earnings, and the contribution of milk to national GDP is projected to be $173m by 2022, as the Rwandan government seeks to move beyond subsistence farming towards a business-oriented, modern dairy sector.
About 20% of the Rwandan population is considered to be food insecure, and 38% live below the poverty line. The Rwandan population is growing at 2.3% per year, and demand for milk is growing along with the population. Yet consumption of other dairy products is rare and cheese is considered a luxury.
“There’s about 25 cheesemakers in Rwanda, local consumption is slowly growing and the government is behind cheese quality,” he says. “It’s a sign of confidence that banks are giving loans to buy new equipment, and if a government is behind cheesemaking and doesn’t meddle, but assists the cheesemaking industry, it can produce cheese, and good cheese.”
In Kigali, Innocent Karuranga founded the Cavabon cheese company as a way of preserving nutrients in milk.
South Africa and Kenya: Major Consumers
South Africa and Kenya are the two largest sub-Saharan consumers of cheese, and are part of a global market estimated at $70bn in 2019. South African cheese consultant Kobus Mulder has organised annual cheese festivals and workshops in Rwanda, Tanzania and elsewhere on the continent.
“A cow is a wonderful thing,” he says. “You can milk it on Wednesday and by Friday you’ve got food and money. If you plant beans you wait months. If you plant grapes or pears you’ll wait six or seven years. But if you give a person a cow you double his money almost immediately,” he says.
Traditional cheese-making flourishes in Nigeria.
Raymond Siebrits, manager of South Africa’s Klein River Cheese Company, says that cheese consumption will increase in tandem with yoghurt, cream and milk consumption.
“When you see consumers start to explore more dairy products and put it on their weekly menus at home, then the market will mature. For artisan cheese in Africa, we need a city with 100 top-end restaurants and hotels to create that critical mass to grow demand.”
West African Soft Cheese (WASC)
West African soft cheese (WASC) is widely consumed and nutritionally valuable across West Africa. It also sustains livelihoods, particularly among Fulani households, by providing regular income for women and strengthens household food security and autonomy. However, concerns persist about its safety and quality.
A scoping review was conducted to synthesize evidence on WASC processing, safety, and quality. The findings showed that cow's milk (88.6%) and Calotropis procera (77.1%) were the predominant milk source and coagulant, respectively.
Two research areas contribute to about one third of the total articles reviewed: alternative coagulants (22.9%) and partial substitution of cow's milk (11.4%). Among the various coagulants tested, only Carica papaya consistently achieved yields comparable to Cal. procera. Partial substitution with plant‐based milks differentially influenced yield and composition.
Findings indicated frequent microbiological hazards in market‐sold WASC, with aerobic plate counts often exceeding limits and recurrent reports of coliforms and pathogens (e.g., Escherichia coli, Salmonella). In contrast, WASC produced under controlled laboratory conditions showed low aerobic counts and the absence of coliforms.
In general, reporting quality was a major limitation, as most of the studies reviewed failed in reporting key processing parameters such as heating temperatures and times, coagulant concentration, and coagulation time, factors essential for assessing and reproducing cheese quality.
In conclusion, this review underscores the urgent need for hygiene interventions across the value chain.
Traditional Cheese Production
In Africa, cheese processing is mostly handled by small‐scale processors (largely women) at the home or farm level. Such is particularly the case for WASC processing; its production is still largely a traditional craft and involves the use of rudimentary equipment.
The traditional cheese, generally made from cow's milk, is mainly produced by Fulani women and sold along major streets and local markets. The Fulani people, also known as Fulbe, are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. They are mainly pastoralists, making them the ethnic group with the largest nomadic pastoral community in the world.
Within Fulani households, milk is both a dietary staple and a primary economic resource. Men typically undertake the milking; the milk is then transferred to women, who determine the share reserved for household consumption and the portion processed into WASC for sale. Sometimes, the women's role extends to the milking of the animals.
Although WASC processing is common to most West African countries, it can vary from one processor to another and from one country to the other, depending on local know‐how and culinary traditions.
The WASC is a nutritious food and a good source of protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals such as calcium and phosphorus. It is widely used as a substitute for meat or fish, or in combination with them in various food recipes, especially for low‐income people. This traditional cheese is classified as an unripened soft cheese with a high moisture content of about 50%-60%, which makes it highly perishable.
The most important step in cheese processing is the coagulation of milk, obtained by adding enzymes to it. In West Africa, coagulants of plant origin are the most widely used in cheese production. Sodom apple (Cal. procera) parts (sap, leaves, and/or stems), believed to be important for flavor development, are the most used milk‐coagulating agents for WASC processing.
Across West Africa, cow's milk is the conventional milk for WASC processing. However, alternative milk sources, largely of plant origin, are currently being explored for the partial replacement of cow's milk in WASC production.
In Western Africa, WASC processors, who largely live in remote areas without electricity, lack cold storage facilities to ensure a longer shelf life of the cheese. Thus, when WASC is left at ambient temperature, it undergoes considerable chemical changes, and the shelf life does not exceed three days.
That is why some studies have tested the application of chemical preservatives or different types of coagulants (Citrus spp.) as an alternative preservative way of increasing the shelf life of the product in the absence of cold storage facilities.
Preparation of WASC
Generally, based on the articles reviewed, the preparation of WASC involves several steps that remain almost the same regardless of the country. First, the sourced cow's milk is filtered to get rid of the animal's fur and other impurities and warmed. Plant coagulant extracts are then added to the warmed milk, and the temperature is maintained or elevated afterward till coagulation sets in.
The coagulated milk is further cooked for a few minutes to facilitate whey expulsion and inactivate the coagulating enzyme. The curdled milk is then scooped into specially designed cheese baskets to strain and mold into desired shapes.
West African Soft Cheese (Wagashi) for sale in Benin.
The South African Cheese Industry
The history of cheese making in South Africa can be traced back to the early days of European colonization in the 17th century. In the early days, cheese was primarily produced on small-scale farms by individual farmers. The cheese produced was primarily for personal consumption and was not widely available for purchase.
During the 19th century, the cheese industry in South Africa began to expand, with the establishment of large-scale commercial dairy farms. These farms produced a variety of cheese types, including cheddar, gouda, and edam. As the 20th century progressed, the South African cheese industry continued to grow and evolve.
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