Made possible through a 416(b) commodity grant from USDA/FAS in partnership with Institut Pertanian Bogor.

The SEAFAST Center began in 2005 as a partnership between USDA, the Borlaug Institute at Texas A&M University, and Bogor Agricultural University (IPB). Based at IPB, the SEAFAST Center’s mission is to improve food related health in Indonesia and throughout Southeast Asia through food science education, faculty development and research, and product development.

In pursuit of this mission, The SEAFAST Center is successfully pioneering linkages between industry and academia as well as building human capital through technological advances in areas such as distance learning and hands-on training. SEAFAST is also one of the first Indonesian projects to link micro-credit loans with specialized technical training designed to build and develop small and medium agribusinesses impacted by natural disasters.

The SEAFAST Center has the most advanced teaching and research capabilities in the region for food technology. The focus of the academic program is “Improving Food Quality, Nutrition and Safety through Science and Technology.” Research areas addressed include the following: food safety, post-harvest activities, cold chain transportation, trade and market development, new product development and food nutrition studies.

With state-of-the-art science research laboratories now online, SEAFAST is beginning to explore many new areas of food science and engineering previously out of reach for most Indonesian institutions. Development of products vital to Indonesia’s economy such as palm oil is already well underway. An advanced distance learning classroom is operational allowing students access to resources at Texas A&M University and throughout the world.

A way to assist small and medium enterprises in obtaining better equipment, technology, and processing skills. This program provides small businesses with loans and training and currently focuses on the Yogyakarta district, which experienced a devastating earthquake in 2006 that killed over 6000 people. SEAFAST personnel provide each recipient with hands-on, on-site training in areas such as food sanitation, food storage, and more efficient processing techniques. This technical assistance in tandem with monetary support makes SEAFAST’s micro-credit program unique.

The micro-credit plus program works with the Department of Cooperatives and SMEs offices to identify creditworthy businesses, creating efficiency and helping to ensure that loans are capable of being repaid.

UMT is an Indonesian company established by the SEAFAST project in 2005. Mitra’s mission is to commercialize new and innovative food products based on product development work done within the SEAFAST Project. UMT has developed more than 80 different new products made from Indonesian ingredients. While most of these are not judged economically feasible for UMT at present, the technology can be transferred to interested small and medium businesses.

Many of these products include ingredients that have been underutilized by farmers and processors. Orange farmers in North Sumatra, who could only sell fresh produce to small local markets due to poor transportation and spoilage, can now convert otherwise lost produce to jams and candies. These new products can be sold outside the region and can increase a farmer’s crop up to 90% in value.

Program Results and Outcomes: The SEAFAST Center has accomplished:
• a fully-equipped distance education classroom with 26 work-stations;
• food science, management, and leadership courses delivered via the internet, supported by text books and face-to-face course delivery;
• SEAFAST Center faculty trainings at Texas A&M for DNA analysis, advanced vegetable oil processing, and food safety;
• a feeding program for 450 disadvantaged students and 250 pregnant women was initiated in the community to address undernourishment indicated during early assessments;
• a better equipped pilot food processing plant was launched and is being used to develop and improve food products, with special emphasis on value added products (e.g., fried tropical fruit chips, coconut yogurt, a powdered drink made from toasted soy beans, and a sport drink made from coconut water), for public markets;a micro-credit plus program that has provided financial services to agribusinesses
• a well established technical training curriculums for food industries (including micro- and small food enterprises)
• a well established capacity building training for government agencies (especially for National Agency for Drug and Food; Ministry of Agriculture, and Ministry of Industry).
• A well established Baking Research and Development (BreAD) Unit for flour-based product development

Websites:
http://seafast.ipb.ac.id/
http://www.seafastcenter.com