A workshop on Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea L) was co-hosted by the Crop Research Institute of Ghana and the Crops for the Future Research Centre (CFFRC) last September in Accra. One of the recommendations was to re-establish an on-line forum for the crop. We’ve now heard from Sean Mayes of CFFRC that “(t)he first phase of this is now complete.”
The current material on the site is really illustrative and we would welcome contributions from far and wide. Please make sure that you own the copyright on anything you would like posted, but we would welcome anything from papers to Bambara groundnut researcher profiles, news, current research etc.
The aim of the site is to link together people working in similar areas so that the individual efforts on Bambara research can begin to add up to something greater. This will benefit everyone involved and help to provide hard scientific evidence of how Bambara can realistically contribute to food security and income generation. Integrating research from genomics through to socio-economic policy is a key aim for underutilised species which often suffer from a range of problems across the entire value chain, so we would welcome input and contribution from all disciplines.
The list of contacts we have is currently limited to those who have contacted us, so please feel free to forward the site address to colleagues and other you feel would be interested. If you would prefer to be removed from the list, please let Razlin know (Razlin (dot) Azman (at) cffresearch.org). If you could also send any contributions/questions/concerns to Razlin as she will be the main person responsible for updating and maintaining the site on a day-to-day basis.
Simply as a starting point, a number of international researchers have offered to act as a steering committee for the site to get things off the ground. However, we are hosting the site on behalf of the Bambara groundnut community, so would also welcome suggestions and offers to help develop the site as a focal point for Bambara groundnut research.
Feel free to use the comments here also to leave suggestions. We’ll make sure they reach their destination.
Incidentally, speaking of neglected crops, can’t resist posting this photo I took yesterday in a Nairobi supermarket.
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