BIRTH OF SEBABATSO
The production of yogurt famously known as Sebabatso in the Faculty of Agriculture of the National University of Lesotho started as a research concept in the Department of Animal Science to assess the potential of producing yogurt in Lesotho since there no such locally produced product in the commercial market by then, to assess the overall consumer acceptability of such locall
y produced product, and to identify the challenges associated with yogurt production on a large scale. The study came up with a product that competes very well with commercially available brands of yogurt in terms of taste and other sensory attributes. This developed into a small processing unit which produced, approximately, 25L of yogurt per week due to unavailability of the necessary resources that facilitate high production. With financial assistance from Metropolitan, the unit acquired equipment that enables it to process approximate 250L – 300L of yogurt per day. This is produced from milk obtained from both NUL Farm and the Roma Valley dairy farmers who have also realized a potential market for their milk. Having gone through a rigorous quality and safety assurance process, the product is now ready for consumption beyond the borders of NUL and will, therefore, soon be available on the shelves in various outlets in the country. The birth of Sebabatso in the Faculty of Agriculture is one example of how the National University of Lesotho integrates research and teaching, with the goal of attaining learning and production outputs.
