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Ecological, technological and capacity building strategies for a sustainable optimization of local maize-based food systems and climate-change resilient food production at the level of smallholder farmers in Kenya - Initiation phase (SolFOOD)
Project
Project code: 2822NIPSI4
Contract period: 01.06.2023
- 31.10.2023
Budget: 40,000 Euro
Purpose of research: Applied research
Keywords: crop production, food security, food toxicology, maize, plant diseases (virusus, bacteria, fungi, phytoplasma), cattle, poison/toxins, animal health, processing, storage protection
In the initiation phase and in the SoLFOOD project itself, close collaboration between all partners ensures sustainable knowledge transfer, cultural acceptance and thus effective adoption of sustainably optimized practices and climate resilient strategies by local communities. However, in order to broaden the scope for follow-up tasks and to establish new necessary research collaborations in the areas of maize varieties with resistance to drought and fungal attack, soil types and properties, detoxification of aflatoxin contaminated maize by fermentation with special fungi, rearing of insects for fish feed production and aquaculture within the project initiation phase, the expertise of the existing core consortium needs to be expanded. Meetings with farmers, extension agents, and regional stakeholders in Kenya, followed by videoconferences, will be conducted during the initiation phase to gather information on local and traditional measures that farmers apply to prevent fungal infestation and to help improve maize quality using soil and crop treatments. In addition, sampling sites will be identified and the frequency and timing of sampling will be determined. An important task of the SoLFOOD project is to test the hypothesis that corn contaminated with aflatoxin can be detoxified by specialized fungi. These fungi grow on the corn kernels and secrete enzymes that both, degrade the mycotoxins in the corn and increase the bioavailability of the nutrients for human consumption (WP 2).
Section overview
Subjects
- Crop Production
- Communication Sciences
- Process engineering
Funding programme
Excutive institution
Max Rubner-Institut - Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food (MRI)
