A consortium of multidisciplinary researchers and industry players in the African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) value chains spearheaded by Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) has won a competitive grant worth Ksh15 million from the National Research Fund (NRF).
The grant will help to upscale the AIVs climate smart technologies for food and nutrition security in Kenya, bringing together a team of ten members drawn from JKUAT, IREN Growthpad Ltd, Local Development Research Institute (LDRI), and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST).
According to NRF Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Prof Dickson Andala, despite NRF investing in funding research on food and nutrition security, there are still gaps in regard to transforming research outputs into tangible goods and services, hence the need to upscale previously funded research projects to ensure that they achieve their intended impact.
The project, to be implemented over a period of 18 months, is the first of its kind in the country.
Prof Mary Abukutsa is the Principal Investigator and Project Coordinator, assisted by Prof Anselimo Makokha, Dr Eucabeth Majiwa, Joyce Njenga and Patrick Amunavi, all from JKUAT, and Dr Anne Aswani of MMUST. The private sector partners are IREN Growthpad Ltd represented by James Shikwati and Esperance Chesoli, as Muchiri Nyaggah and Judy Mumba represent LDRI.
Prof Abukutsa noted that due to the prolonged and recurrent drought experienced by about half of the counties, the production of predominant staple foods has been inadequate to meet food requirements in the country.
The UPSCALE-AIVs project therefore aims at using smart technologies to upscale the commercial production of registered varieties of two AIVs, namely, the African nightshade (Managu) and Jute Mallow (Mrenda).
This, the consortium said, will contribute to the achievement of food and nutrition security in Kenya, alleviate malnutrition, curb diseases that are partly due to diets high in starch but low in vegetables and fruits, and increase foreign exchange earnings as dried vegetables will be marketed to Kenyans in the diaspora.
While focusing on upscaling already developed technologies and commercialization of African indigenous vegetables for improved economic status and development of Kenya, the UPSCALE-AIVs project will be implemented in Kakamega and Kiambu counties.
“We are privileged for the partnership between IREN Growthpad Ltd and esteemed institutions JKUAT, MMUST and LDRI, powered by the Kenya National Research Fund. IREN Growthpad Ltd is at the forefront of promoting consumer wellness, revolutionizing the way Kenyans experience AIVs and supporting smallholder farmers by guaranteeing market access to AIVs,” said Director of IREN Growthpad James Shikwati.
Executive Director of LDRI Muchiri Nyaggah said in its mission to support African countries to end hunger, extreme poverty and reduce inequality, LDRI has a particular focus on supporting smallholder farmers to access appropriate technologies, new farming methods and enhancing farmer education through technology transfer and knowledge exchange.
“We believe upscaling of AIVs in Kenya will contribute to increased food security and resilience in smallholder agriculture through AIV commercialization and consumption,” said Muchiri.
NRF has aligned its research and innovation funding programmes to national research priority areas guided by the development goals as spelt out in the Kenya Vision 2030, Medium Term Plans (MTPs) and the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
The NRF call was formulated with support of Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) through the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI).
By Patrick Amunavi
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