Improvement of maize-based foods in Sub-Saharan Africa

Feeding 2.4 billion mouths in Africa by 2050 will require all hands on deck as the demand for cereals may triple. Viable options to feeding Africa include measures with respect to (a) food technology, e.g. improved utilization of the available crops and their by-products, (b) plant breeding, e.g. through bio-fortification, and (c) agronomy, e.g. yield improvement and sustainable crop intensification. Although the latter two options have received most research traction, the current cereal yields in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is about 20% of its potential. Crop intensification has huge economic and environmental implications while biofortified crops have not received the expected adoption. This reinforces the importance of strategies aimed at optimizing crop utilization such as the prevention of food and nutrient losses as well as enhancing product diversification from existing climate-resilient crops to feed the ever-rising population. Matching consumer preferences and enhancing the ease of processing of maize into different food types will support better use, with positive consequences on reducing malnutrition and alleviating poverty.Many high potential maize products that are localized or confined to particular communities can be scaled up across the continent and beyond for prosperity, as elaborated in chapter 2. This will require standardization of the processing conditions for effective monitoring and evaluation. Curbing nutrient loss during post-harvest handling of maize will enhance the nutritional status of Africans relying on maize as a staple crop. Furthermore, research on more effective ways to enhance the protein quality i.e. tryptophan and lysine as well as vitamin content of maize-based foods especially through novel fermentation technique is important. Novel fermentation techniques such as the use of microbial fortification or bio-enrichment using high lysine producing microorganism could help to ameliorate the poor protein quality of maize foods. This w