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While work package 3 of the FoodAfrica programme focuses on climate change, it is evident that there are other simultaneous long-term trends, such as population growth and potential rise of living standards, which can shape substantially future food security in Africa and which may need to be given attention in the analysis. Population growth has major consequences to food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. The global population increased during the years …

The number of people under malnutrition is estimated to be about 800 million. This number does not give the whole picture as the number of people under “hidden hunger” is estimated to be two billion. Eighteen out of the twenty countries suffering from this problem are in Sub-Saharan Africa. The term hidden hunger means people suffering from chronic lack of micronutrients and it has usually no visible warning signs. Most …

Beatrice Tuei, 43, from Kenya, is one of the PhD students involved in the FoodAfrica Programme. She’s doing her thesis in FoodAfrica WP7 about solving the problem of seasonal availability of fodder experienced by smallholder dairy farmers. How did you get interested in agricultural research? –In secondary school, I was good in sciences and home-economics but opted for agriculture which I considered more challenging than the former. I was inclined …

Four experts from Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) visited Finland from 7 to 17 September 2014. They participated in a training program which was aimed at creating capability to introduce and operate a grid-based weather data collection system in Kenya. This knowledge and facility is not in place in Kenya for the time being but is essentially needed for the development of a model for prediction of aflatoxin risk in maize. …

The FoodAfrica midterm seminar on food and nutrition security brought together over a hundred people from many different countries in Helsinki in June. In addition to the researchers involved in the FoodAfrica programme representatives from the University of Helsinki, Finnish authorities and non-governmental organisations were present in the interactive event. The seminar gave a broad look at research on food and nutrition security in Africa and raised questions and discussions …

FoodAfrica has started collaborating with the Kenyan Department of Meteorology and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The new co-operation supplements the research done on avoiding mycotoxins by using meteorological data to forecast the risk of mycotoxins in the dairy chain. In Finland a grid-based weather data system developed by the Finnish Meteorological Institute has been applied for monitoring the risk of fumonisins in cereals for more than 10 years. In FoodAfrica …

A group of PhD and MSc students involved in the FoodAfrica programme participated in a training at the University of Helsinki prior to the FoodAfrica midterm seminar. The students came from all the seven work packages, represented many programme countries and scientific fields – from animal and human health to soil micronutrients. The training was organized by the University of Helsinki and it gave the participants a chance to learn …

Lotta Lassila, 35, is working on her Masters’ thesis in FoodAfrica work package 2 focusing on sustainable dairy production in Senegal. She’s one of five students involved in the work package and the only one from Finland. The title of Lotta Lassila’s thesis is Predicting Lactation Records from Test Day Samples in Indigenious and Crossbred Dairy Cattle in Senegal. She studies Animal Breeding at the University of Helsinki and is …

The performance of local markets plays a decisive role in promoting economic growth and reducing poverty in Africa. An important aspect is farmers’ access to markets, which includes the process of finding buyers to the products, finding price information and negotiating prices. Due to constant changes in the market situation, it is particularly important to have up-to-date information on the markets. Esoko (electronic market in Swahili) is a company specialized …

FoodAfrica WP5 conducted a baseline study in 2013 in Meru and Tharaka-Nithi in Eastern Kenya where aflatoxin occurrence is considered to be high. Intensive trainings about aflatoxins were provided in order to disseminate knowledge of aflatoxin mitigation to a maximum number of households. Communities of both Meru and Tharaka-Nithi counties are well-aware of aflatoxin issues related to insufficient maize drying. Even though many lack deeper knowledge of aflatoxins, they believe …