Project
Building a Sustainable Infrastructure for the Product Development and Food Entrepreneur/ Industry Technical Support: A Strategy to promote increased use of Sorghum and Millet in East Africa
Details
Project Code:
UNL 102
Start Date:
2008
End Date:
2012
CRSP Phase:
Not Available
Budget:
Not Available
Participants
Lead University:
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Other Partners:
Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania Food andNutrition Centre, Kitangari Tulinge Women Development Association (KITUWODEA), The Glorious group, Ilonga
Agricultural Research Center, NZASA women's group (Tanzania) ; University of Zambia (Zambia)
Principal Investigator(s):
John F. Leslie
Co-Principal Investigator(s):
None
Links
Overview
Sorghum and millet are ideal crops for many parts of Africa. Maize, however, is favored by many as a food source; farmers thus grow Maize even though on a multi-year basis sorghum is a more reliable crop. The use of sorghum and millet in food products is limited throughout the world. In many parts of Africa, there is a lack of high-quality grain plus little knowledge regarding sorghum and millet’s potential use in a wide variety of both traditional and non-traditional foods. There is also little infrastructure for conveying and demonstrating the food value of sorghum and millet to those most willing to invest in its potential, namely small businesses.
This two-year workplan, from multinational interdisciplinary team, addresses these issues by employing multiple strategies.
Objectives
1. Development of successful entrepreneurial businesses that adds value to sorghum and millet such that: 2. Farmers have an established outlet for cash sales of high-quality sorghum and millet. 3. Small businesses or cooperatives develop processing capabilities enabling the incorporation of sorghum and millet into a wide variety of nutritious and healthy food products. 4. Markets and market channels for sorghum and millet-based products develop. Further develop research, extension and marketing expertise of National Agricultural Research program scientists and professionals so that they can: a)Offer business and technical assistance to processors and small businesses in order to speed development of sorghum and millet food products. b)Advise producers on which grain type(s) are ideally suited for particular processors, including both very small entrepreneurs, regional-village level millers, and larger multinational brewers (among these).
Outcomes
Coming soon
