Feed the Future Legume Innovation Lab hosts Grain Legume Research Conference
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EmailThe Feed the Future Legume Innovation Lab (LIL) Grain Legume Research Conference in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, runs from Aug. 13-16.
Ouagadougou, BURKINA FASO —The Feed the Future Legume Innovation Lab (LIL) Grain Legume Research Conference in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, runs from Aug. 13-16.
The Grain Legume Research Conference presents a forum for Feed the Future Legume Innovation Lab scientists and collaborators from the United States, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean to gather and to present their research findings and achievements on, among other topics, improving the crop yields of edible grain legumes over the past 4.5 years.
The LIL, which is managed at Michigan State University in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and funded by USAID, has supported collaborative research projects on grain legumes between scientists at US research-intensive agricultural universities, and scientists at universities and other agricultural research organizations in 13 countries in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, at MSU for more than 30 years.
Through these partnerships, international and collaborating LIL scientists develop technologies and generate knowledge to increase grain legume productivity; strengthen grain legume value chains; accelerate research on disease and pest management in beans and cowpeas, and enhance nutrition, especially among women and children, in developing countries.
Research and technologies arising from LIL research include improved bean lines that yield more crops per hectare, improved storage techniques to protect beans from destructive insects, environmentally sound pest management, and improved nutrition options, especially for young children and women of childbearing age. Graduate student training that improves the research capacity of scientists in developing countries further contributes to the long-term agricultural expertise that will continue to positively impact smallholder farmers in developing countries and improve food security.
The conference is being held in partnership with the Institut de l’Environnement et des Recherches Agricoles (INERA) – Burkina Faso, an institute of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (CNRST), that focuses on advancing agriculture and environmental concerns in Burkina Faso.
