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A Social-Ecological System Approach towards a Sustainable Intensification of Agricultural Production in Sub-Saharan Africa – SESASA
The project aims at developing a “System of Systems” concept to assess land-use and land-management change scenarios to strengthen sustainable water management and food security for the Sudanian-Savannah region. This will be achieved by analyzing social-ecological system interactions including local stakeholder knowledge, human management impacts and nature responses at nested scales. The scenario-simulation will deliver bundles of management strategies to improve food and water securities.
Improving nutritional quality and stability of palm oil produced by African smallholders to fulfil African consumers needs – VITAPALM
Crude oil palm widely used by African people is a valuable source of provitamin A (carotenoids) . However, it degrades rapidly due to a high lipase activity and low oxidation stability. The aim of this project is to breed new genotypes of oil palm specifically destined to cultivation by smallholders, and that produce non-refined crude oil with improved qualities including provitamin A/vitamin E dietary supply, lower saturated fat and enhanced stability/shelf life.
Sustainable intensification of fruit production systems through innovative pest biological control technologies – Pest free fruit
In sub-Saharan Africa, fruit production is affected by pests that strongly impact on attaining food and nutrition security. The excessive reliance on chemicals is not sustainable, and current pest control methods are insufficient to minimize crop losses. Innovations relying on ecologically-based control become crucial to respond efficiently to sustainable fruit production, as well as societal concerns for safer and nutritionally-balanced diets, better health and environmental protection.