Page African Technology Development Forum ATDFJOURNAL V OLUME 6 , I SSUE 3 / 4 2 0 0 9 March 2005 SCIENCE;INNOVATION;TECHNOLOGY;TRADE;DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTS: Enhancing food security in Africa through science, technology and African Orphan Crops: innovation Their Significance and Prospects for Role of orphan crops in enhancing and diversifying food production in Africa Improvement The comparative genomics of orphan crops Harnessing biotechnology for conservation and utilization of genetic diversity in orphan crops Tailoring bioinformatics for the genetic improvement of orphan crops The improvement of African orphan crops through TILLING Importance of tissue culture for orphan crops Significance of genome sequencing for African orphan crops: the case of tef Progress in prevention of toxico- nutritional neuro-degenerations African yam bean: a crop with security potentials for Africa In Africa and other developing regions, the vast bulk of food is produced and consumed locally. Who is who in African orphan crops research and development ISSN: 1817-2008 Abbreviation: Afr. Technol. Dev. Forum j http://www.atdforum.org/ May 2010 Page 2 ATDF JOURNAL Volume 6, Issue 3/4 2009 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Enhancing food security in Africa through science, 4 technology and innovation Constantine Bartel Role of orphan crops in enhancing and diversifying 9 food production in Africa Zerihun Tadele The comparative genomics of orphan crops 16 Andrew H. Paterson, Barbara K. Mashope and Lifeng Lin Harnessing biotechnology for conservation and utilization of genetic diversity in orphan crops 24 Ranjana Bhattacharjee Tailoring bioinformatics for the genetic improve- 32 ment of orphan crops Melaku Gedil The improvement of African orphan crops through TILLING 42 Korinna Esfeld and Zerihun Tadele Importance of tissue culture for orphan crops 48 Thomas Dubois Significance of genome sequencing for African or- 53 phan crops: the case of tef Sonia Plaza, Eligio Bossolini and Zerihun Tadele Progress in prevention of toxico-nutritional neuro- 58 degenerations Fernand Lambein, Delphin Diasolua Ngudi and Yu-Haey Kuo African yam bean: a crop with security potentials 64 for Africa D. Dominique and A. Daniel Who is who in African orphan crops research and 70 development Zerihun Tadele Page 3 ATDF JOURNAL Volume 6, Issue 3/4 2009 Editorial This special issue of the ATDF Journal is dedicated to the Orphan Crops of Africa. Although orphan crops are also known by different names (e.g. underutilized-, lost- or disadvantaged-crops), they all refer to a group of crops that are vital to the economy of developing countries due to their suitability to the agro-ecology and socio-economic conditions, but remain largely unimproved due to less at- tention has been given by the world scientific community. In order to boost food production in Africa emphasis should be given, not only to the major crops but also, to the orphan crops. The topics covered in this issue range from germplam collection and conservation to the application of modern techniques (Bhattacharjee; Dominique & Daniel). Under ‘Comparative Ge- nomics’ Patterson and colleagues showed the relationships of different orphan crops at a molecu- lar level. The same group led the international group of scientists to complete the sequence of sor- ghum genome (Nature 457:551-556; 2009). Sorghum is also another important crop of Africa that was until recently considered as an orphan crop. But due to concerted efforts made by the national and international institutes, significant number of cultivars with desirable agronomic traits reached the farming community. Gedil presents how bioinformatic tools can be applied to the orphan crops. Recently, some orphan crops researchers got an opportunity to implement modern improvement techniques that have proved to be efficient in the improvement of major crops of the world. Among these, tissue culture (Dubois) and TILLING (Esfeld & Tadele) are discussed in detail. In addition, genome sequencing has been recently completed for orphan crops such as cassava and in pro- gress for tef (Plaza et al.). Lambein and colleagues report their efforts to remove toxic substances from the two orphan crops that are extremely tolerant to drought but cause neuro-degenerations when consumed without proper processing. ‘Who is who in African orphan crops’ presents the names and addresses of institutes di- rectly or indirectly involved in orphan crops research and development (Tadele). Some key organiza- tions might be missed from the list but the list provides useful information, at least, for orphan crops researchers who need to establish research partnerships and are seeking for grants. On behalf of orphan crops researchers, I take this opportunity to thank the editors of ATDF Journal for giving the chance to the African Orphan Crops. In addition, I would like to thank all or- ganizations who provide financial and technical supports for orphan crops research and develop- ment. Finally, my personal thanks to all contributors who managed to write the articles despite their other commitments. Zerihun Tadele Institute of Plant Sciences University of Bern, Switzerland Page 4 ATDF JOURNAL Volume 6, Issue 3/4 2009 Enhancing food security in Africa through science, technology and innovation Constantine Bartel Summary of UNCTAD Technology and Innovation Report 2010 (Email: [email protected]) rather than simply those that aim to replicate the suc- Abstract: cesses of other regions of the world. The report focuses on the challenges of improving agri- Declining agricultural productivity in many developing cultural performance in Africa and the role of technology countries can be reversed through building what are and innovation in raising agricultural production and inco- called agricultural innovation systems that provide the mes of all farmers, including smallholder farms. The re- enabling framework not only for the adoption of exist- port argues that the main challenge is to strengthen the ing technologies and the development of new ones innovation capabilities of African agricultural systems as that are suited for African needs. Agricultural innova- a means of addressing poverty, improving food security tion systems denote the network of economic and and achieving broader economic growth and develop- non-economic actors, and the linkages amongst these ment. actors enable technological, organizational and social learning of the kind needed to devise context-specific keywords: Technology, Innovation, Smallholder farmers, solutions. The dissemination of already existing tech- food security nologies from outside could help this endeavour, but a major challenge relates to the ways and means in Sub-Saharan Africa is the developing region most likely to which innovation that is relevant to African agriculture miss the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG1), aim- could be promoted. ing to reduce by half extreme hunger and poverty by 2015. Per capita food production in least developed However, the ability of the agricultural innovation sys- countries (among which African countries are over- tem to be able to access, use and diffuse knowledge represented) has declined continuously since the early embedded in agricultural technologies depends on the 1970s, so that in 2003-2005 it was one-fifth lower than presence of an enabling framework that supports the in 1970–1972. While Asia and Latin America have seen emergence of technological capabilities by strengthen- significant increases in their agricultural productivity over ing existing linkages, promoting new linkages and fos- the last three decades, Africa’s agricultural productivity tering inter-organisational learning that leads to capi- has stagnated. This has created serious problems of food tal accumulation and technical change. Such an ena- insecurity and has presented a major development chal- bling environment, by definition, is one that strength- lenge given that the agriculture sector forms the basis of ens the absorptive capacity of local actors while pro- many African economies and provides the largest source tecting their interests through a policy framework that of employment and livelihoods for the vast majority of the recognises their legal rights and privileges, linkages, continent’s population. The core challenge that confronts socio-cultural norms and historical context. This report Africa is one of promoting steady growth in agriculture in defines an enabling environment for technology and the dynamic context of economic transformation of coun- innovation in agriculture as one that provides the ac- tries. Agriculture will remain important for food security tors, skills, institutions and organizations required to but at the same time, building productive capacities in promote the use, dissemination, diffusion and crea- agriculture and identifying multi-sectoral linkages be- tion of knowledge into useful processes, products and tween agriculture and other sectors will be important to services. support sustainable economic development of Africa. The onus therefore lies in the identification and support of Creating an enabling environment for technology and processes and linkages that promote technological innovation is an essential requirement to enable Afri- change, productivity increases and innovation. can countries to address the following constraints that impede their agricultural development: Technological innovation is not all composed of radical discoveries, and much of what is relevant to African agri- Declining investment: most developing