Tropentag, September 20 - 22, 2017 in Bonn "Future Agriculture: Social-ecological transitions and bio-cultural shifts"

Diversified Agriculture for a Balanced Nutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa – Projects Supported by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, BMEL

¹Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), Head of Division ``Research and Innovation'', Germany
²Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE), President, Germany

Abstract

Focus on Nutrition – Research funding of German-African Consortia
With the funding instrument “Research Cooperation for Global Food Security and Nutrition” the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) strengthens the contribution of Germany's agricultural and nutritional research to the development of an efficient food system in partner countries, by building long-term partnerships between agricultural and nutritional research institutions in Germany, Africa and Southeast Asia.
Two calls for proposals have be published since 2013 focusing on diversified agriculture for nutrition-sensitive food production and on improved processing of local food to reduce seasonal food insecurity as well as food and nutrient losses. In this context, twelve consortium projects will be funded by the end of 2017.
Funding agency is BLE.
The BMEL-Session (6B) at the Tropentag 2017 presents a variety of the consortia and their projects funded within the frame of the first call on “Diversified Agriculture for a Balanced Nutrition”:
1. Diversifying agriculture for balanced nutrition through fruits and vegetables in multi-storey cropping systems (NutriHAF), coordinator: The Center for Development Research (ZEF).
2. Urban farming in Southern Africa – improved food safety and income options for urban disadvantaged communities (UFISAMO), coordinator: Humboldt University of Berlin (HU Berlin).
3. Food Security in rural Zambia (FOSEZA): Integrating Traditional Fruit and Vegetable Crops in Smallholder Agroforestry Systems, coordinator: Leibniz Universität Hannover.
4. Improving Community Health-Nutrition Linkages through Solar Energy Based Fish and Crop Integrated Value Chains (Ich liebe Fisch), coordinator: Fraunhofer Research Institution for Marine Biotechnology and Cell Technology.
5. Agriculture and Dietary Diversity in Africa (ADDA), coordinator: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.

Keywords: Climate change, diversification, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, research cooperation, sub-Saharan Africa

Contact Address: Henning Knipschild, Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE), International Cooperation and Global Food Security 323, Deichmannsaue 29, 53179 Bonn, Germany, e-mail: henning.knipschildble.de