Pop goes the cereal

27 August 2010   |   Permalink   [1]

Cooking up innovative ways to bring traditional grains back to the market

Demonstrating a popper machine at the market in Kenya. Photo: Y. Morimoto/Bioversity

Demonstrating a popper machine at the market in Kenya. Photo: Y. Morimoto/Bioversity

The growth of the snack foods market is largely dependent on ‘exotic’ crops such as maize and wheat, especially in developing countries.

In Africa, tasty treats such as French fries and sugar-based confectionery are proving a hit with fashion-conscious urban populations. Yet this rise in popularity comes at a cost; more sustainable indigenous crops are being pushed off the menu, and the modern snacks contribute to poor nutrition.

But all is not quite lost as these crops are fighting back to gain their rightful share of the local market place.

Bioversity projects in Africa and South America have shown that serving traditional grains sprinkled with just a little imagination can stimulate not only modern taste buds but the local economy as well.

Finger millet 'pop-corn' anyone?

Read more about the projects here:

  • Why Pop Just Corn?  [2]
    New ways to serve up traditional grains in Kenya by creating tasty snacks.
  • Heavy Metal Snacks
      [3]Looking at the challenges of small-scale production methods in the Andean region.

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Filed under: Announcements  [9], Sustainable agriculture  [10]See also: Africa  [11], Incomes  [12], South America  [13]

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