Kilishi is a traditional dehydrated, smoked-dried and packaged meat snack.  It is produced and consumed in Nigeria, the republics of Chad, Cameroon, Niger, Mali and Senegal. Out of the 360,000 tonnes of beef Nigeria consumed annually, approximately 20% is used for kilishi production. Kilishi has over the years gained popularity among Nigerians as a light snack. However, the traditional process technology involves drudgery, taking 2-3 days to complete a production cycle; products are also of low aesthetic quality and limited shelf life.  The processes are unhygienic and vary from one processor to the other or even from batch to batch from the same processor. In order to address this challenges, the Council established a Kilishi processing plant based on an efficient technology which produces wholesome Kilishi product.

The technology, which won an Award at the 2018 technology and Innovation Expo of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology has been patented and the product “MATRA KILISHI” approved and registered (Reg. No. 08-6339) by NAFDAC. The project has the potential to create thousands of jobs when fully commercialized and replicated by investors across the states of the federation. It would facilitate meat processing thereby reducing movement of live cattle, which can reduce cattle rustling and farmer/herder clashes