Feed the Future Innovation Lab to fund ten African projects to develop sorghum and millet

In Kansas, project funding through the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sorghum and Millet has been announced, selecting six projects in West Africa and four projects in Ethiopia.

The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research in Sorghum and Millet is a consortium of cutting-edge research aimed at improving the adaptation and resilience of sorghum and pearl millet to the semi-arid climates of East and West Africa, with a focus on Ethiopia, Senegal and Niger. Established in July 2013 at Kansas State University, the Lab contributes technologies and knowledge toward the adaptation, resilience and improved profitability of sorghum- and millet-based production systems and value chains through a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative.

In Ethiopia, a 2012 study found that households that grew castor beans for biofuel development had higher food security and food caloric intake. Investment in potential biofuels feedstocks in the region, therefore, could potentially indirectly lead to higher food security for the region if sorghum and pearl millet are also used as feedstocks.

More on the Feed the Future project at Kansas State University.