SOMNI PROJECT

Benson Kyalo a fish farmer uses #sorghum grain as the raw material for making fish feed for the Catfish and Tilapia that he rears on his farm in Makueni County. He believes using sorghum improves profit margins due to lower feed production costs.

Where markets exists, technology uptake is high. Strong links to markets for rural producers creates a vicious circle by boosting productivity, increasing incomes and strengthening food security (IFAD: 2013).

A Sorghum farmer feeding his fish with sorghum based feeds. @ICRISAT @ICRISATESA @IFAD @USAID @FAO @SOMNIPROJECT @aatfafrica @DuPontAfrica @kalromkulima @ILRI

Sorghum Provides a critical source of calories and serves as a good source of protein, fiber and important micro nutrients, especially important for growing children. @ICRISAT @IFAD @EUinKenya @WorldVisionKE @kilimoKE @FAO @USAIDKenya @aatfafrica @SOMNIPROJECT @kalromkulima

Nutritional quality of food is a key element in maintaining human overall physical well-being because nutritional well-being is a sustainable force for health and development and maximization of human genetic potential.

How smart are "smart foods?" Op-ed by Dr Colin Chartres discusses the importance of smart foods & smart people for a healthy population & planet: bit.ly/2Uz62bI @JoannaKP @SmartFoodGlobal @ICRISAT @SandroDemaio @EATforum @ACIARAustralia @GlobalFoodTeam @ILRI @A4NH_CGIAR

Ancient grain millet has potential to tackle drought, obesity AND malnutrition - a triple win! abc.net.au/news/rural/201… … via @abcnews @ICRISAT

#UPDATE The project has purchased eleven portable threshers to be used for enhancing the quality of grain reaching markets. They can thresh & clean 4 to 7 bags of grain per hour. The threshers are made with three different sieves to make it possible to thresh #sorghum and #millet

#UPDATE Most of the #Sorghum and #Millet trial plots in the project counties have done tremendously well since planting. The farmers are now in the process of thinning and weeding.

#Climate-smart agriculture practices can be solution for rural households in semi-arid regions highly vulnerable to adverse impacts of climate variability and change – highlights of @ICARindia AERA conference goo.gl/QLp5Eu #R4D #agriculture #ClimateChange #ICRISAT_News

#DYK Close to one billion people worldwide are undernourished, while many more suffer from deficiencies in specific nutrients, such as essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals – mostly as a result of meager and low-quality diets. @ICRISAT @IFAD @FAO @USAID

Chef Anto talked about the Smart Food campaign by ICRISAT on #Radio rance Internationale (RFI) on 30 Oct 2018. #Chef Anto (second right) in RFI studio tasting sorghum crackers at the end of the show. #Smartfood #sorghum @SmartFoodESA @SmartFoodIndia @AgatheDiama @IcrisatW

.@ICRISAT sweet #sorghum could deliver significant boost to #India’s nutritional & industrial needs in one fell swoop, and might even set an eg for Aust farmers @dfat @ausindiacouncil @mikesfoley @JoannaKP @ACIARAustralia @AusHCIndia farmonline.com.au/story/5786139/…

Millet does have a high amount of calcium that helps in healthy bone strength and strong teeth especially expectant mothers, nursing mothers, sick people and old people ie ALL PEOPLE @ICRISAT @ICRISATESA @SOMNIPROJECT @WorldVisionKE @USAID @FAO @IFAD @kalromkulima @AfDB_Group

Over 6000 small holder farmers have been linked to buyers by the #AVCD program in the six mandate counties. The project has been working with aggregators in Kenya and has established a total of 38 aggregation centers

#DYK Striga is a parasitic weed that constrains the growth of cereals in the sub humid areas of Africa. The weed can be managed by hand pulling, weeding on time, inter-cropping with legumes like groundnuts, use of herbicide 2-4 D,field sanitation and deep ploughing.

Sorghum is the fifth most important cereal crop globally and the third most important crop (after maize and beans) in Eastern and Central Africa. @ICRISAT @SOMNIPROJECT @ICRISATESA @kilimoKE @USAID @IFAD @FAO @kalromkulima @WorldVisionKE @USAIDKenya

The #AVCD project has worked with food engineers to develop smart food products for commercialization. These products include cakes and pastries made from #sorghum and #millet @ICRISAT @SmartFoodESA @SOMNIPROJECT

#Busia Farmer groups in Bunyala have taken up adding value to #sorghum and #millet to earn extra income. #SOMNI project supports these farmers by providing them with charcoal ovens and basic training on value addition.