Hosted by Dr Ereck Chakauya, Network Manager: AUDA-Nepad SANBIO

Indigenous small grain cereals like sorghum and millet remain important crops for food security, nutrition and health because they are well adapted to African climatic conditions and are climate-smart crops.

There is growing research interest in sorghum, millet and other cereal grains for their phytochemical content, mainly polyphenols, which research has shown may have health benefits, particularly in managing some non-communicable diseases. These crops also provide much needed micro-nutrients that could ease the burden of malnutrition in Africa through product development using indigenous food. This panel highlights the work that is being done globally and discusses collaboration for scale and impact in a global alliance and through private-public partnerships.

Dr Ereck Chakauya, Network Manager: AUDA-Nepad SANBIO (Host), Dr Tawanda Muzhingi, Senior Scientist, International Potato Centre Regional Office for Africa, Nairobi, Kenya; Professor Trust Beta, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Functional Foods, Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, University of Manitoba, Dr Nomusa Dlamini, CSIR Principal Researcher