Innovation and Technology

This programme aims to build livelihoods and food security in the food system to be relevant for Africa, while embracing the global need for technological innovation by paying more attention to indigenous African crops and those that are intensively consumed on the continent, as well as entrenching the importance of grain crops that are of global relevance for food security. It also focuses on the economic costs and benefits of innovation for small-scale agriculture.

Projects under this umbrella explored SMART food processing and drought responses in cereals and legumes, with specific work packages addressing technological innovation in food energy-density reduction, nutrient-density improvement, and the breeding for drought and heat stress tolerance in crops. The research has been widely cited with recent and highly cited papers in food science, and was used in 2023 by research teams in India working on recent trends in food preservation, as well as by researchers in Iran working on biocontrol bacteria.

The PIs for this programme are Professor Naushad Emmambux (UP) and Professor Ndiko Ludidi (UWC).