Network for the Valorization of Plant Materials (VPMA)

Starch adhesives (Malawi)
(92-1451)

Principal investigators: 
Dr. E. Fabiano: Chancellor College, University of Malawi, Zomba (Malawi)
E-mail: [email protected]
M. Jack Shields: Forintek Canada Corporation, Québec (Canada) 
E-mail: [email protected]

Malawi is a poor and small landlocked country of Southeastern Africa with good transportation infrastructure.  The country has an agriculture-based economy and most of its industries serve the needs of the food and agricultural commodities sectors (processing, packaging, industrial spares, etc.). Adhesives are used in large   quantities in Malawi for cardboard manufacturing, label sticking, battery making, book binding, etc. The country has abundant cassava crops containing starch chemicals useful in the formulation of adhesives. The objective of this project is therefore to develop adhesive formulations which could be used by local industry. The project results will be both in the form of formulations usable by companies who make their own adhesives on-site, and in  the form of a process for ready-made adhesives which will be sold to various industrial entreprises. The project succeeded in developing a glue formulation usable notably for the manufacture of packaging   materials. This glue has been successfully tested on industrial scale in  Packaging Industries Ltd. based in Blantyre (Malawi).