GCRF Agri-tech Catalyst Seeding Award - Reading The primary outcome of this award is the adoption of relevant agricultural and food system innovations by farmers and other stakeholders in target countries in Africa. Benefiting residents in rural communities in Tunisia and Ghana. 

Secondary outcomes include increased and improved understanding amongst UK businesses of the needs and opportunities in African countries; and increased engagement with African countries by UK businesses, including successful collaborations and lasting partnerships post-project.
The Seeding Award funded two research projects which will support rural farmers by contributing to improved yields, tackling plant disease, improving food safety, and resilience to climate-change: 

1) Bridging the gap between the research and release of varieties containing novel traits in Tunisia.

The project researched a healthier, more nutritious faba beans to aid food security and nutritional health by undertaking to bridge the “valley of death” between knowledge creation and commercialisation using the low vicine trait in faba bean as an exemplar. The plant materials were all from the INRAT faba bean breeding programme. The subjects of survey and dissemination activities were all Tunisian, and all of the research and related outcomes situated firmly in the Tunisian context. Project monies spent in the UK were to deploy expertise and technologies not available in Tunisia to specific challenges surrounding the varietal innovation pipeline and barriers to adoption. The impact of release of low vicine varieties would be to underpin greater self-sufficiency of protein supply. The overall aim of the project was to contribute to the food security, self-sufficiency, economic prosperity and nutritional health of the Tunisian population, benefiting all Tunisians as consumers of protein-rich pulses and from the income generated from its production. The long-term impact of the project is to secure a steady supply of healthy and affordable beans. 

2) Developing a Digital Platform for Cocoa Production in Ghana

The cocoa sector in West Africa is challenged by a number of factors including low on-farm yields, declining soil fertility and a changing climate. The project collecting large volumes of data to address these challenges. The approach included the automated collection of weather data to model yield responses to climate change; installation of field sensors to understand environmental variation in a marginal cocoa growing region, and adoption of bar code reader systems in on-farm experiments for more accurate data collection and enhanced access. Cocoa is the main export commodity crop in Ghana, employing an estimated 800,000 smallholder farmers. Cocoa is the main source of income for such farming households and so more stable levels of productivity will improve livelihoods. The project will understand how environmental variability limits productivity and how cocoa may become more resilient to climate-change, benefiting the most vulnerable smallholder farmers. Nearly a third of the farmers engaged in the project are female (30% of the trial farms belong to female farmers). 

SDGs: 2, 8,  9 The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.