Country of nationality:

Togo

Research area:

Orphan Crops diversity and exploitation

Host Organisation & country:

Université de Kara (UK), Togo

Summary

African Orphan legumes are highly nutritious and stress-tolerant crops with the potential to enhance food security and contribute to more sustainable farming systems in Africa. Dr Palanga’s research will assess the diversity and the nutritional potential of three orphan grain legumes species (African Yam bean, common bean and Bambara groundnuts) grown in Togo.

Grantee Description

Dr Koffi Kibalou is an APTI fellow and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in Kenya. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) in 2016 and his doctoral work focused on identification of quantitative traits loci associated and the biochemical compounds associated with Gossypium hirsitum (Upland Cotton) resistance to Verticillium dahliae.

Dr Palanga’s long-term aspiration is to continuously expand and embrace new molecular biology and biochemistry methodologies in studying the diversity of orphan species grown in Togo and their potentiality in mitigating the double burden of malnutrition and to cope with climate change challenges. As a Lecturer and a research investigator, he aims to advance a research niche plants molecular breeding, train young African scientists, and conduct research to contribute to a sustainable agriculture and the double burden of malnutrition.

Project: Agromorphological, genetic and biochemical Characterization of three neglected legumes species grown in Togo and assessment for their adaptability to drought

The project on orphan legumes species aims at gathering all the cultivars of three of most endangered legume grains in Togo and their genetic, agro morphological and nutritional characterization. Aside the molecular characterization, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) will be done in order to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and genes associated with phenological and phenotypic traits of importance. Further, the study will also identify cultivars with potentiality to resist to drought in a context of climate change where the rain is more and less irregular and cultivars displaying a yield stability under different environments and the genotype* environment interaction thus paving the way to an efficient breeding program to address environmental challenges. It will promote the integration of high nutritious crops in the diet of the Togolese and by doing so a potential novel source of incomes for farmers.