The World Bank will spend more than Sh1.4 billion in funding for research in selected 24 centres in public universities in eight countries in Eastern and Southern Africa to strengthen food sustainability in the region that is faced with hunger and drought.
The eight countries – Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia have several centres dubbed the Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence (ACE).
The initiative seeks to strengthen the selected centres to deliver quality post-graduate education and build collaborative research capacity in five regional priority areas including industry, agriculture, health, education and applied statistics.
The institutions are expected to produce excellent training, applied research, build networks among the ACEs to promote regional collaboration with other institutions and the industry to produce innovative solutions with real impact.
The centres are also expected to develop a culture of results-oriented and accountability through an exemplary performance-based financing mechanism.
In Kenya, the Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Agriculture and Agribusiness Management (CESAAM) at Egerton University is researching sustainable agriculture and agri-business after receiving Sh600 million from the World Bank in 2017 for the next five years.
Moi University also received a similar amount of funding to research phytochemicals, textiles and renewable energy research on dyes for textiles.
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology is researching sustainable use of insects as food and feeds after receiving Sh600 million from the World Bank.
University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University have received funding worth millions of shillings for scholarships for PhD students in science-related courses.
Across the border, Tanzania, through the Africa Centre for Research, Agricultural Advancement, Teaching Excellence and Sustainability (CREATES) is also reaping the benefits of the World Bank funding.
According to centre director Prof Hulda Shaidi Swai, they are on a mission to transform their country in food and nutrition sustainability.
Prof Shaidi whose centre is hosted at the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in Arusha has unfinished business of making fish feeds in Tanzania.
The professor in Nanotechnology with a special interest in food security is burning the midnight oil to ensure her country launches a project of making fish feeds.
As she is thinking of how to address the fish feeds problem in her country, she has consulted widely with members of a think tank at the centre which is the home to more than 1,000 scientists, researchers, technicians, and other staff to find a lasting solution on how to make the fish feeds.
Since CREATES seems not to have an immediate solution to clear the hurdle, Prof Shaidi has been forced to cross the border to Kenya and her stopover at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology has paid dividends.
"Our trip to Kenya was to look into fish feeds as we are planning to start a fish cage project in Lake Victoria and our main hurdle was to get fish feeds because most of the fish feeds in Tanzania is exported," said Prof Shaidi.
She added: "We were informed through our partners in Kenya the Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Agriculture and Agribusiness Management (CESAAM) at Egerton University by centre Director Prof George Owuor that we could tap into the expertise and experience of Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology to rescue our mission as it has developed an innovation to make spirulina which could be used to make fish feeds."
"We shopped around in Tanzania to find out who is making spirulina and we found there was none and that is why we made this fruitful road trip to Kenya with a high hope of going back and starting the production of spirulina," said Prof Shaidi.
Tanzania has about 50 top public and private colleges and universities but could not match the innovation of making spirulina powder at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology whose brains behind it is a respected professor of nutrition in Kenya, Prof Asenath Sigot.
Prof Shaidi who was accompanied by a team of eight experts, praised and described Prof Sigot as a "real expert in making health products out of spirulina," while her counterpart from Tanzania Dr Joyfrey Raymond Kusongwa, a nutritionist said they were excited to meet an expert in spirulina.
"We see this as an opportunity for addressing malnutrition not only in Kenya and Tanzania but also in the region. This is also a big business opportunity and we look forward to starting selling the product in our shops," said Dr Kusongwa.
"Our next step would be to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (Mou) with Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology to help us start a similar innovation in Tanzania to support farming as a business in our country and spread the good gospel of this wonderful product that Africa needs to know about it," said Prof Shaidi.
Prof Owour thanked Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology for the innovation and singled out Prof Sigot for her excellent work on spirulina.
"We look forward to forging a strong partnership between the three universities –Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Egerton University and the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology to ensure our East African objective of nutritional food security is achieved.
Spirulina is one of the critical components that are key to actualising this goal of food security in our region. I thank senior professor Prof Sigot for being a shining light in this front," said Prof Owuor.
Prof Sigot said she has been working on the project for several years and was excited it would be used as fish feeds.
“If human beings are tired of spirulina, I am sure the fish would not be tired. It's very nutritious. It's a wonderful superfood. I look forward to seeing Tanzania launch cultivation of spirulina," said Prof Sigot.
She said spirulina has many health benefits including cleaning the body of harmful toxins and other impurities that may be causing illnesses like cancer, diabetes, hypertension, anaemia, anti-ageing, weight management and other health complications.
"Spirulina isn't just a superfood. It's beneficial for everyone including children, and pregnant women as it enhances the immune system, is rich in proteins, boosts energy and it's a powerful antioxidant that is easy to add to foods and juices," said Prof Sigot.
The Kakamega-based university is making spirulina powder from some tiny blue algae whose scientific name is arthrospira platensis that nutritionists are calling superfood because of its many health benefits for humans.
On spirulina, the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report states: "There is a need for both national governments and inter-governmental organisations to re-evaluate the potential of spirulina to meet both their food security needs as well as a tool for their overseas development emergency response efforts."
The World Food Conference held in Rome, Italy in 1974 declared spirulina the "best food for future" while the World Health Organisation (WHO) has hailed spirulina "the greatest superfood on earth" rich in proteins, iron and vitamins that can be administered to children without any risk.
