When Rev. Prof. Florence Isabirye Muranga talks about nutrition, she doesn’t speak in abstracts. She speaks about children in weaning stages, banana farmers in rural Bushenyi, and Ugandan athletes chasing Olympic dreams in Dakar 2026.
As Uganda’s Nutrition Ambassador to the Uganda Olympic Committee and Commonwealth Games Uganda, and Director General of the Banana Industrial Research and Development Centre (BIRDC), Muranga is turning a 3-year partnership into a national movement.
The vehicle is the Olympic Day Tooke Run, set for June 20 in Bushenyi, and the mission is simple: make nutrition the foundation of both sporting excellence and child health.
From Lab to Legacy Muranga’s path to this role is rooted in science. With a PhD in Biochemistry from Makerere University, an MSc in Food Option from the University of Reading, UK, and years leading PIBID/BIRDC, she has spent her career solving one problem: how to make Uganda’s green banana more than a staple dish.
“Through demand-driven Research & Development, PIBID/BIRDC has successfully bridged this gap, transforming the fresh green banana into convenient, premium, export-ready industrial commodities,” she said at Friday’s press briefing in Kampala. The result is TOOKE-instant and raw flour that is 100% gluten-free, with over 70% resistant starch for sustained energy, plus potassium and serotonin for heart and mood health.
It’s now the official nutrition partner for Team Uganda after a March 14, 2026, agreement between BIRDC, UOC, and Commonwealth Games Uganda.But for Muranga, TOOKE isn’t just about athletes. “As a Nutrition Ambassador, my commitment extends beyond athletes. It reaches every child in Uganda because today’s well-nourished child is tomorrow’s champion,” she said.
A Passion Rooted in Data and Faith, Muranga’s urgency comes from Uganda’s malnutrition statistics: 25–29% of children under five are stunted, and half suffer anemia, according to WHO/UNICEF 2024 data. “Malnutrition at the weaning stage remains one of the greatest barriers to good health, education and athletic development,” she said.
“Many illnesses later in life are traceable to poor nutrition in early childhood”.Her solution is two-pronged. First, use TOOKE to give athletes the “scientifically backed and grounded nutrition” needed to repair muscle, sustain endurance, and recover faster. Second, scale affordable TOOKE porridge to weaning children to prevent stunting and cognitive impairment before it starts.“We may start humbly, perhaps with as little as a cup of TOOKE porridge, but together, we shall ignite a dynamic cogwheel of innovation,” she said, quoting her mentor Edmund Haggai:
“Attempt something so great for God, that it is doomed for failure unless God is in it.”
Building to June 20th.
The Olympic Day Tooke Run in Bushenyi is the campaign’s public face. Under the theme “Move, Learn, Discover with Nutrition-Care,” the event has four objectives: sponsor athletes to Dakar 2026, raise nutrition support for vulnerable children, promote healthy lifestyles, and create global market links for Uganda’s banana farmers.“Without proper nutrition, peak performance is not sustainable,” Muranga said.
“Intense physical activity causes micro-tears in muscle tissue. High-quality nutrition provides the essential building blocks needed to repair these tears and reduce recovery time”.To fund the work, PIBID/BIRDC and UOC are mobilizing UGX 4.47 billion for the inception year-UGX 2.5 billion for a nutritional legacy fund and UGX 1.97 billion for the run itself.
A Partner, Not Just a Spokesperson.
What sets Muranga apart is that she’s not a figurehead. She’s leading fundraising drives,overseeing product development, and linking farmers to markets. Her role as Secretary General of PACEID and Ambassador for Global Women in Finance gives her the networks to push TOOKE from rural farms to international shelves.“By integrating our indigenous agricultural wealth with world-class sports nutrition know-how, we are not merely running a race,” she said.
“We are paving a commercialisation roadmap that empowers rural green banana farmers while fuelling our national champions as well as solving malnutrition of children”.
As the countdown to June 20 begins, Muranga’s message is clear: nutrition is not an afterthought. It’s the fuel for Uganda’s future champions-on the track and in the classroom.“Let us rise together, let us act together, let us build together and together let’s take TOOKE to the world,” she said. “For God And My Country”.
Rev. Prof. Florence I. Muranga holds a BSc, Dip.Ed., MSc, PhD Biochem, and MBA. She is Secretary BMC PIBID, Director General PIBID/BIRDC, Secretary General PACEID, and Nutrition Ambassador for Uganda Olympic Committee and Commonwealth Games.
