Project funding through the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sorghum and Millet has been announced. The projects will contribute to improving food security, household resilience and private sector growth in Ethiopia, Senegal and Niger through the enhancement of production and value-added product development.

The 2014 funding recipients were identified through a competitive call for proposals, with 10 projects selected from the 58 proposals received, from the recommendations of the Lab’s external advisory board and dozens of ad-hoc reviewers.

Six projects were selected in West Africa, led by five leader institutions with 16 collaborating institutions, and four projects were selected in Ethiopia, led by three leader institutions and 16 collaborating institutions.

“These projects represent the best ideas and strategies, drawn from around the world, to tackle hunger and undernutrition in some of the world’s most difficult agricultural regions,” said Timothy Dalton, associate professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University and director of the Lab. “The process will require patience, hard work and dedication, and we’ve assembled a fantastic team to attack these problems.”

The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research in Sorghum and Millet is a consortium of cutting-edge research aimed at improving the adaptation and resilience of sorghum and pearl millet to the semi-arid climates of East and West Africa, with a focus on Ethiopia, Senegal and Niger.

Established in July 2013 at Kansas State University, the Lab contributes technologies and knowledge toward the adaptation, resilience and improved profitability of sorghum- and millet-based production systems and value chains through a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative.

The Innovation Lab links U.S. and international universities and research organizations in a collaborative effort to build human and institutional capacity in Ethiopia, Niger and Senegal to make sorghum and pearl millet the crops of the future. Additional information regarding the Sorghum and Millet Innovation Lab can be found at http://www.k-state.edu/smil.

Click here for the full list of projects.

This story was produced by the Sorghum and Millet Innovation Lab.