Imagine if we only ate three types of vegetables; we'd miss out on vital nutrients and a single pest could wipe out our whole garden. This work looks for forgotten, highly nutritious plants and better farming methods to bring variety back to the plate. It's about making sure people have a wide range of healthy food that can survive a changing climate.
African food systems rely on too few crop species, making them vulnerable to climate change and causing widespread malnutrition. This creates economic instability and puts immense pressure on fragile health systems.
The project is creating biofortified crop varieties, value chain analysis tools for indigenous vegetables, and dietary diversity-monitoring metrics.
If you are a food product manufacturer dealing with a lack of nutritious raw materials — this project developed new varieties of major crops and processing technology that improve the nutritional value of your products.
If you are a seed company dealing with crop vulnerability to pests and climate change — this project developed biofortified crop varieties and underutilized 'orphan' crops that offer more resilient alternatives for farmers.
If you are a nutrition consultancy dealing with high rates of micronutrient deficiencies — this project developed dietary diversity-monitoring metrics that allow you to track and improve health outcomes in 8 African countries.
Based on available project data, specific pricing for the crop varieties or technologies is not provided, though the project received an EU contribution of EUR 10,822,804.
The project aims to up-scale the best solutions via a network of food system actors across 8 African countries to ensure wide adoption.
Based on available project data, specific licensing terms are not mentioned; however, the project involves 22 partners including 4 industry members.
The project period runs from 2023-01-01 to 2028-12-31, indicating a long-term development and testing phase.
The project focuses on enhancing consumer acceptance and creating strategies for the commercialisation of diversified healthy foods.
The consortium is well-balanced for translational research, consisting of 22 partners across 12 countries. With 10 universities and 6 research institutions providing the scientific base, the 18% industry ratio (including 2 SMEs) ensures that the transition from lab to market is considered. The strong presence of partners in both Europe and Africa facilitates direct application in the 8 target countries.
Contact Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen for details on crop diversification technologies.
Contact SciTransfer to connect with the HealthyDiets4Africa consortium for licensing biofortified seeds.
