Pilot Plants
MEAT TECHNOLOGY SECTION
UIRI's Meat Technology Section was established in 1997 with grant aid from the Chinese government, the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, CIM/GTZ of Germany and the Government of Uganda.
Operating under UIRI's Production Systems (PS) department, the section heads the development of value-added meat products. This is done through training, R&D and provision of technical advisory support services to the meat industry.
DAIRY TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT
The Dairy Technology Section is one of the four departments under UIRI’s Food Science and Technology Division. It was set up as a research, training and technology development center geared towards addressing the needs of the dairy processing industry that involves process development, quality up-gradation, cost reduction, value addition and product diversification.
BAKERY TECHNOLOGY SECTION
The Bakery Technology Section is one of the four departments under the UIRI’s production systems Directorate (PS). The section’s purpose is to steer and conduct applied industrial research into the bakery industry and also address the needs of the local bakery industry specifically the micro and medium scale enterprises by generating appropriate bakery processing technologies.
UIRI'S BAMBOO UNIT
For a long time in Uganda, bamboo has not been looked at beyond it being a tall grass plant suitable mainly for house construction and simple furniture making. However UIRI has since 2004 been exploring how to add value to this widely available yet untapped local product.
Determined to tap into Uganda’s bamboo potential, UIRI in collaboration with China Bamboo Research Centre (CBRC) in 2005 embarked on the possibility of manufacturing bamboo toothpicks.
Paper Pilot Plant
Handmade paper which is currently Pulp and Paper Technology started in 2005 with the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI) being mandated to produce paper from banana fibre. For the last 14 years in operation, the project has tremendously achieved significant results through utilizing numerous agricultural fibres. Some of the fibres that have already been used to produce paper of acceptable quality include; banana fibre (stems), pineapple crowns, cotton rags, sisal, bagasse, papyrus, wheat straw, waste paper to mention but a few.
Fruits and Vegetables
The Fruits and Vegetables Technology Department is one of the model areas under the Directorate of Production Systems at UIRI. The Department was setup to promote industrialization through value addition to fruits and vegetables, improvement of indigenous fruits & vegetables technologies, skills development, business incubation, implementation of government value addition projects, provision of SMEs outreach reach services among others. The Department works in collaboration with the laboratories at the Institute to ensure production of safe and quality products that are fit for human consumption and meet consumer expectations.