Muslim fasting officially began on Monday March 11, 2024 in Burkina-Faso. In addition to being an opportunity for the faithful to strengthen their faith, the 4th pillar of Islam also represents a month of economic opportunities for the informal sector. Women rub their hands in the pancake trade (womi in Dioula language). What is the nutritional and economic contribution of pancakes? We visited a few places selling this dish, which is popular with fasting people, and met a nutritionist in Bobo-Dioulasso to find out more.
Habi Guigma has been at his place of business for about two hours this afternoon of March 12, 2024.
Sitting under a parasol, her baby on her back, she sells pancakes (womi in the Dioula language) at the edge of the tarmac, on the Bobo-Dioulasso-Dédougou axis, in the Niénèta district, sector 12 of the town of Sya.
Its business is constantly punctuated by the noise of road users’ vehicles, cars, motorcycles, and many others.
She is busy cooking the pancakes (made from millet and rice) in suf
ficient quantity for her customers before 6:30 pm, the time when the Muslim fast is broken.
Metallic baguette in hand, in front of her steaming pancake mold, Lady Guigma tells her story with the pancakes.
‘I have been doing this business for about 20 years. I started making pancakes using millet from a young age and I sell them every year during the month of Ramadan,’ she confides.
The pancakes which formerly sold at 5 FCFA per unit, she relates, are now sold at 25 FCFA and this is justified in her eyes by the increase in the cost of living, and particularly of inputs such as cereals. , sugar and oil.
Since the start of Ramadan, Ms. Guigma has sold at least 8 boxes of millet pancakes per day (around 16 kg). The market is affordable, he says, and his business is profitable.
‘I earn enough to take care of my children during Ramadan,’ she says without giving figures.
Djamilatou Koné, on her motorcycle, all veiled, came this March 12, 2024 to buy pancakes from Lady Guigma.
Since the start of the month of R
amadan, she says she stocked up on supplies every day at home to break the fast.
‘I stock up every evening at her house throughout the month of Ramadan with 5,000 CFA francs of pancakes for breaking the fast with the family,’ she declared.
Safi Sanfo is also a pancake seller in the Colma district. She has been doing this activity for exactly 7 years.
‘I sell my pancakes every evening except during the month of Ramadan, and people eat a lot of them,’ she says.
Outside of Ramadan, she uses on average 5 boxes of millet per day, and 10 boxes during the month of Lent.
If Asfi Sanfo deducts all its production expenses, it can end up with a daily profit of at least 10,000 CFA francs. The pancakes have a nutritional contribution to the body.
Dr Safiatou Pitroipa is a nutritionist in the pediatrics of the Souro Sanou University Hospital Center (CHUSS) in Bobo-Dioulasso.
She makes it known that millet, and therefore millet pancakes, contains a lot of energy and nutritional values which are beneficial for the bod
y during this period of Slow.
‘For 100 grams (g) of millet flour, it can have 72.6 g of carbohydrates, 7.3g of proteins, 2g of lipids and some traces of vitamins, notably B1, B2, PP, calcium, Iron and Zinc,’ explains the nutritionist .
Millet transformed into pancakes provides the body with a lot of energy for a Muslim who has just broken his fast, Dr. Pitroipa convinces himself.
‘However, pancake lovers will have to combine it with other foods, especially rich in proteins,’ she adds.
People with Diabetes should, on the other hand, according to Ms. Pitroipa, be careful when consuming the pancakes because of the quantity of sugar and the mixing of certain spices during the processing of the dough by the sellers.
Source: Burkina Information Agency