About US (ORPHAN)

Conservation, characterization and transformation of genetic resources are crucial to meet the needs of breeders for present and future generations. The chance to meet demand can only be achieved with a high level of genetic diversity. “Orphan” refers to underutilized small-scale cultivated plants, without cultivation techniques proven by scientific research and not subject to industrial processing. But considering the agronomic and nutritional potential, the promotion of these crops can contribute to sustainable development and food and nutritional security. Funded by the Intra – Africa Mobility Scheme,  a mobility program developed by EACEA. The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACAE)  of the European Union, Orphan project proposes to increase skills and qualifications of current and future professionals and practitioners in the consortium countries in orphan crops as solutions to climate change.
To achieve the productivity and transformation objectives, a team made up of 6 universities, including 5 African universities and a Belgian university, as part of a call for projects launched by the European Union entitled "Call-NDCI - MOBAF - 2023 (Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme) have successfully submitted their bids. For Africa, these are Nangui Abrogoua University in partnership with the University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin), Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and tec (Kenya), Ebonyi state university (Nigeria), University of Zimbabwe and the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium).

Ten priority underutilized crops will be promoted by Orphan. Discover our priority species list. (List)

ORPHAN project will contribute to the key purpose of this call, which is to improve the skills, qualifications and employability of African students, with a focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation while strengthening intra-African collaboration between higher education institutions. The proposed project, mainly aims to mainstreaming climate adaptation and mitigation in breeding, food sciences and nutrition training curricula, with as end goals to deliver high-profile breeders, food technologists and nutritionists to focus synergistically on under-utilised crops for Africa, to seize and promote business opportunities for climate change, to strengthen climate change adaptation strategies and address food and nutritional security issues on the continent, the improvement of employability and research collaboration among African universities partners. The training of PhD and MSc students as well as internships in adequate institutions that can employ graduates is a robust approach to sustain the promotion of orphan crops in various ways. The focus on African orphan crops will highly contribute to novel crops and product development and consumption to alleviate hunger and promote new value chains because African farmers and consumers still heavily rely on neglected crops and species for food nutrition and income generation. By developing a compelling research space and collaboration around local plant resources, this project seeks to generate locally adapted solutions to the continent’s challenges among which food insecurity and malnutrition are very critical. 

For more information on Intra-Africa and European Education and Culture Executive Agency  click here https://www.eacea.ec.europa.eu/about-eacea/visual-identity/visual-identity-programming-period-2021-2027/european-flag-emblem-and-multilingual-disclaimer_en .