The First Step toward Popularizing Soy Meat in Africa

I am currently working on a project to popularize soy meat in Kenya, East Africa. In developed countries, which are the center of the soy meat market, most households can afford to eat meat on a regular basis. Furthermore, through my activities since high school, I have keenly felt that in the Japanese market, where social values such as environmental protection do not easily translate into actual consumer behavior, it is a very high hurdle to get people to choose soy meat, a new food product, over the meat they are accustomed to eating.

Amidst this, I met a friend at university who had been studying sustainable support for developing countries and learned about the reality that meat is very expensive and not eaten frequently in these nations. This led me to believe that there might be a greater demand for "dried soy meat that is cheaper than and similar to meat" precisely in such developing countries.

In Kenya, which I chose as my first field, malnutrition and oral infectious diseases due to a diet dependent on inexpensive carbohydrates are serious issues. In contrast, dried soy meat is rich in the nutrients that are lacking and can be stored for long periods at room temperature, so its popularization can help alleviate these problems. Based on this idea, I began to explore a business development model inspired by the BOP 3.0 business model, which expands the perspective from the theme of poverty reduction to sustainable development. There is also data showing that Africa will be the region with the largest increase in meat consumption in the future. I want to create a society where soy meat is a common option before the livestock industry, which already places a significant burden on the environment, faces an even more serious situation.

I first encountered the theme of soy meat when I was a first-year high school student.

At the invitation of a childhood friend, I participated in the "My Project Award," a competition where high school students present the projects they have been working on. As I had only joined as a member because I was asked, I wasn't seriously engaged in my friend's project. However, on the day of the national competition, something unexpected happened: my friend was suddenly unable to participate, and I had to present all by myself. The result was, of course, a disaster. I couldn't answer questions that I should have been able to if I had been seriously involved, and I felt ashamed and inadequate. At the same time, I was deeply moved by the participants of my own generation who were taking action with their own themes at the competition. I thought to myself, "So this kind of world exists. I want to be like them, someone who has their own theme and can speak passionately about it," and thus began my search for my own theme.

As I went about my life with my antennae up, the theme I found was "popularizing soy meat as an environmentally friendly food option."

As a protein source to replace meat, soy meat is gradually spreading in places like the United States and Europe as a food that contributes to global environmental conservation and human health. I was eager to popularize soy meat in Japan as well, so I made policy proposals aimed at introducing it into Japanese school lunches, gave guest lectures at elementary schools, and participated in discussions at the Foodtech Public-Private Council.

While my efforts to popularize soy meat in Japan, which I had been working on since high school, were not progressing as I had hoped, after entering SFC, I had a chance to casually talk with a friend from another field about our respective research themes: soy meat and support for developing countries. It was then that the idea suddenly struck me that producing and popularizing soy meat in Africa could have a significant social impact. From that point on, my friend and I began to consider from scratch what form of popularization would be feasible in the distant land of Africa.

Initially, we envisioned actually manufacturing and selling soy meat in Africa, but we ran into many obstacles, including manufacturing infrastructure, local employment, and funding. So, we decided to first focus on "what I can contribute right now" and start with a one-for-one business model: for every soy meat product sold in Japan, one would be donated in Kenya. In this business, we plan to sell soy meat products in Japan through pop-up stores and, in collaboration with a general incorporated association that provides food aid in local slums, donate the profits to support school lunches and food distribution in Kenya.

Prior to the pop-up event, I traveled to Kenya in September 2024 to conduct on-site market research and a large-scale monitor survey. The moment I first set foot there, I was overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the city and the people, which were completely different from Japan, and honestly, I was intimidated. However, I couldn't afford to hesitate after coming all the way to Kenya. My friend and I discussed creating opportunities for people to sample the soy meat, and we took every action we could think of. First, with the cooperation of a local general incorporated association, we visited various places such as Kibera, Africa's largest slum, an orphanage, and an elementary school in a rural area. We cooked a large pot of dishes using soy meat and had the children eat them. When we offer samples of soy meat in Japan, people often say, "Meat tastes better," but the children in Kenya ate it with smiles, saying, "It's delicious." In addition, I met with a Kenyan university student I had connected with through an online community, and they showed me around the local area. As a result, I was able to gather material to reconsider the value of soy meat and the business model in Africa, and I met many people who will be important for the future. Above all, when I remember the children's smiles, I feel a renewed determination to never give up on this project.

I am currently a second-year student, so for the next two years until graduation, I want to succeed one by one with our ongoing one-for-one business pop-ups and other initiatives, while exploring new possibilities for what we can do. It is thanks to the environment and support system at SFC that I have been able to evolve the soy meat project I started in high school this far.

The biggest turning point was meeting the friend with whom I am now conducting joint research. I belong to the Miyagaki Hajime Research Group, which focuses on the theme of "Sociology of the Social Sector and Human Services," while my friend, who has the theme of "sustainable support for developing countries," belongs to a different research group. I think it is unique to SFC that there are people with a wide variety of research themes on a single campus, creating collaborations and enabling new research.

Also, when I traveled to Kenya, I applied for and was awarded an SFC research grant that is available even to undergraduate students. SFC has a wide variety of its own grant programs, and the support for student research activities is extremely robust.

I also believe that my desire to make the most of my studies at the SFC I so admired and make them meaningful has become a source of motivation for my research.