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Confectionery company wants to end malnutrition by publishing genetic maps

A multi-million dollar research group co-founded by the confectionery company Mars is set to publish the genetic maps to five traditional African crops as part of an ambitious project that it says could help end malnutrition on the continent.

The project is applying modern biotechnology to African “orphan crops” – including finger millet and the “superfood” moringa – with the goal of breeding new versions that are more productive or more tolerant to drought or disease.

It is one of several new initiatives to develop improved varieties of crops that have been grown by small-scale farmers for generations but long-overlooked by international researchers and industry focused on globally traded staples like wheat and maize.

The researchers say they will publish the crops’ genome sequences online for anyone to download for free; they are also training hundreds of African plant breeders on how to use the data.

At UN food talks in Rome last month, Howard-Yana Shapiro, chief agricultural officer Mars, one of the world’s largest food companies with revenues in 2015 of $33bn (£26.5bn), said the project will “significantly improve the nutrition of an entire continent”.

Read more at The Guardian
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