FFAR Grant to Improve Sorghum & Strengthen Nutritional Security

July 30, 2024

Entebbe, Uganda

Dry conditions and poor soil severely affect crop yields, leading to poor quality food and feed, which is the leading cause of malnutrition among children and women in Africa. Sorghum, a major food and forage crop, can grow in these harsh conditions, but sorghum’s nutritional value differs across varieties and the crop contains high levels of substances known as antinutrients that limit the body’s ability to absorb the nutrients. To address this challenge, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) awarded a $809,879 Seeding Solutions grant to the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) to develop sorghum varieties with increased nutritional value, uses for livestock and improved yield. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and NARO provided matching funds for a total $1.6 million investment.

Food and nutrition insecurity continues to be a problem among multiple populations around the world. This research aims to create more nutritious crops that can thrive in harsh agricultural regions. Researchers at NARO, in collaboration with partners at U.S.-based institutions, are not only improving smallholder farmers' livelihoods but also taking steps towards improving nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa. Constance Gewa, Ph.D.
Scientific Program Director
Bolstering Healthy Food Systems

Although sorghum grains contain essential nutrients like iron and zinc, the bioavailability of these nutrients is hindered by the high levels of anti-nutrients found in the grains. Raising the levels of iron and zinc nutrients while simultaneously lowering the levels of antinutrients would greatly increase the availability of nutritious foods in arid regions. Furthermore, stalks and leaves from sorghum varieties with no or low levels of hydrogen cyanide have the potential to serve as safe livestock forage thereby improving meat and milk quality suitable for human consumption. Furthermore, stalks and leaves from sorghum varieties with no/low levels of hydrogen cyanide have the potential to serve as safe livestock forage.

Dr. Scovia Adikini at NARO is developing sorghum varieties with high iron and zinc in the grain for human consumption and reduced levels of hydrogen cyanide in stalks and leaves for animal forage by identifying nutritional quality and discovery of genetic markers to enable rapid development and release of better yielding and nutritionally rich sorghum varieties adapted to dry land regions of Africa.

Adikini during a field selection of grain sorghum.

Both humans and livestock in dry areas of east Africa have suffered high levels of malnutrition. This is largely due to the low availability of micronutrients, especially iron and zinc but also the presence of antinutritional factors in the existing dominant crops, like sorghum. We are addressing this by increasing the micronutrient level in sorghum, ensuring its bioavailability, and reducing the level of antinutritional factors like hydrogen cyanide in order to guarantee food and feed quality for enhanced nutrition both in humans and livestock. Dr. Scovia Adikini
Principal Investigator, NARO

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Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) builds public-private partnerships to fund bold research addressing big food and agriculture challenges. FFAR was established in the 2014 Farm Bill to increase public agriculture research investments, fill knowledge gaps and complement the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s research agenda. FFAR’s model matches federal funding from Congress with private funding, delivering a powerful return on taxpayer investment. Through collaboration and partnerships, FFAR advances actionable science benefiting farmers, consumers and the environment.

Connect: @FoundationFAR

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