Tradition Meets Safety: UP-RISE Workshop Enhances Umqombothi Value Chain in South Africa

19 February 2026

In November 2025, the UP-RISE project completed its final multi-actor co-creation workshop of the year at the Johannesburg Business School, South Africa. This two day intensive event gathered 33 participants, including 22 operators, to tackle food safety and quality challenges within the umqombothi (a traditional fermented beer) value chain. The workshop employed a participatory methodology, bringing together a diverse group of farmers, malters, millers, and processors from across the Gauteng province.

Specific objectives

• Develop a participatory approach that empowers operators to share indigenous knowledge and discuss quality issues;
• Build a common understanding of food safety definitions, specifically highlighting the risks of mycotoxins;
• Identify critical points in the production process and assess the social or economic trade-offs required for safer food production;
• Jointly design innovations and best practices that are both feasible and affordable for South African small-scale operators; and
• Establish an engagement plan to ensure stakeholders test these safety solutions before follow-up sessions in 2026.

Insights from the field

The workshop highlighted the complex intersection between modern food safety and deep-rooted cultural traditions. Key findings from the sessions included:

• The Spiritual Nuance: Participants emphasised that umqombothi is a symbolic product used to communicate with ancestors; certain hygiene protocols, such as wearing gloves, were noted to potentially clash with beliefs that the brew requires the “transfer of energy” through bare hands.
• Hazard Identification Gaps: While participants easily identified visible hazards like stones, dust, and weevils, they struggled to categorize invisible threats. Notably, all participants recognised mould, but initially, none linked it to the existence of mycotoxins until explained by researchers.
• Resource Constraints: Small-scale farmers identified a severe lack of infrastructure, specifically noting the high cost of tractors, proper storage units, and the financial burden of complying with national regulations.
• Gender Dynamics: All men present at the workshop were involved in the upstream farming stage, while more than two-thirds of the total participants were women, reflecting their dominant role in processing and brewing.

Co-created solutions and commitments

Through small-group discussions and exchanges of ideas, stakeholders identified practical, low-cost improvements to safeguard their products:

• Farmers pledged to implement rigorous post-harvest sorting to remove damaged kernels, which are more vulnerable to fungal invasion.
• Upstream Operators suggested adopting solar driers and low-cost dehydrators to ensure grains reach safe moisture levels before storage.
• Malters and Millers expressed a desire to create a “community of practice”—a network to exchange advice and troubleshooting tips among peers.
• Processors committed to prioritizing cleanliness during fermentation, including using duvets or temperature-controlled storage to ensure the quality of the brew.

Next steps

Participants expressed high levels of enthusiasm, particularly regarding the opportunity to be trained directly in the field to better match their local contexts. The data collected will be used to finalise UP-RISE best practices guidelines for the umqombothi value chain. All attendees confirmed their intention to return for an implementation workshop in one year to report on the successes and challenges of the solutions they have decided to test.