Conserve and screen premium value indigenous plant biodiversity and products on women smallholder farming systems of East Africa

Abstract: 
Various interventions for promoting the premium value of indigenous plants (IPs) are being adopted to enhance their status in the food sub sector. The project aims to enhance women smallholder farmers’ capacity in target Lake Victoria Basin sites of Kenya and Uganda, to conserve and promote premium indigenous plant biodiversity for value added processes, and provide a basis for policy formulation on promoting IPs with a potential market value. The project involves mapping IPs in relation to land-use types, and characterization of physicochemical and nutraceutical attributes of screened IPs. The study involves a survey; rural participatory appraisal; focused group discussions; laboratory methods viz.: Near Infrared Reflectance spectroscopy and Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy, as rapid techniques for screening the IP germplasm and soil samples; and high performance liquid chromatography and UV spectroscopy reserved for establishing the nutraceutical value of the screened IPs.
De diverses interventions pour favoriser la valeur de haute qualité des plantes indigènes (IPs) sont adoptées pour augmenter leur statut dans le sous-secteur alimentaire. Le projet vise à augmenter la capacité de femmes de petites exploitations agricoles dans des emplacements du bassin du Lac Victoria au Kenya et en Ouganda, de conserver et promouvoir la biodiversité de la plante indigène pour des processus à valeur ajoutée et de fournir une base pour la formulation de politique sur la valorisation des IPs en valeur marchande potentielle. Le projet comporte la cartographie des IPs par rapport aux types d’utilisation de terre et la caractérisation d’attributs physicochimiques et nutritionnels des IPs examinés. L’étude implique un aperçu : évaluation participative rurale ,discussions en groupe et méthodes de laboratoire à savoir : spectroscopie de réflectivité de proche infrarouge et spectroscopie de fluorescence de rayons X dispersifs d’énergie en tant que techniques rapides pour examiner le support génétique des IPs et les échantillons de sol et la chromatographie liquide de haute performance et celle des ultraviolets (UV) réservées à l’établissement de la valeur nutritionnelle des IPs examinés.
Language: 
English
Date of publication: 
2010
Region Focus: 
East Africa
University/affiliation: 
Collection: 
RUFORUM Conferences and Workshops
Licence conditions: 
Open Access
Access restriction: 
Form: 
Printed resource
Publisher: 
ISSN: 
E_ISSN: 
Edition: 
Extent: 
185-188
Notes: 
 
"The 2010 RUFORUM Biennial Conference was the second in the series. The main objective of the Biennial conferences is to provide a platform for agricultural research for development stakeholders in Africa and beyond to actively exchange findings and experiences, while at the same time learning lessons towards improving performance of the agricultural sector and ultimately people’s livelihoods. The biennial conference is RUFORUM’s most comprehensive meeting for the diversity of stakeholers in agriculture. It is especially dedicated to graduate students and their supervisors, grantees in RUFORUM member universities and alumni. It is a platform for peer review, quality control, mentorship, networking and shared learning. This record contains an extended abstract accepted under the theme of agronomy".