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Transforming cassava to improve livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa

Summary of the impact

The tropical root crop, cassava, is a food security crop for 450 million people in Africa. This case study describes the impact pathway from strategic research on transformation to make safe, cheap and valued products for food and industrial use, to impact on the ground in Africa benefitting 90,000 smallholder farmers with strong prospects to increase to 250,000 within eight years. The impact pathway involved using:

a) strategic research on cyanogen reduction during cassava processing, overcoming problems with mycotoxin contamination, improved processing and sensory evaluation;

b) adaptive research to develop market-based solutions to use cassava as a commercial/industrial commodity;

c) large scale impact on the ground in Africa through Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funding and take up of the products by the private sector.

Submitting Institution

University of Greenwich

Unit of Assessment

Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics
Engineering: Chemical Engineering, Food Sciences

Novel applications for fractionation of plant biomass in the food ingredients industry

Summary of the impact

Yield of valuable biomass fibre components and their utilization in the food industry has been maximised by novel, cost-effective and environment-friendly plant fibre extraction methods developed by BEAA. Specifically, application of these methods enabled patenting and commercialisation of oat fibre extraction by the Swedish company BioVelop, directly resulting in commercial impact through international sales of five nutritional products released since 2010. The most successful of these is produced at a quantity of 180,000 kg, or € 600,000 per year. In May 2013, world-leading food-additive giant Tate & Lyle took over BioVelop, securing the success and lasting commercial impact of the BEAA technology.

Submitting Institutions

Aberystwyth University,Bangor University

Unit of Assessment

Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry, Organic Chemistry
Biological Sciences: Plant Biology

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