Lungile May Sisoka – MSc Climate Change,Agriculture and Food Security student affiliated to the Ryan Institute at the National University of Ireland Galway

August 31, 2022August 31, 2022

Food preparation methods approaches to scaling legume consumption in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)

Including legumes in existing cuisines and recipes are needed as legumes provide nutrient-dense food and income for households and communities (Muoni et al., 2019). However, challenges that legume consumers face include long cooking time, low shelf life, and anti-nutritional properties which cause digestibility problems (De Jager, 2019a, Shitta et al., 2021, Snapp et al., 2018). Approaches for dealing with these challenges include soaking, boiling, and keeping legumes in an airtight container (De Jager, 2019a, Yegrem, 2021, Tan et al., 2020).

Legume-based foods are not given much attention, as legumes are regularly deemed inconvenient and have an adverse taste (Röös et al., 2022) so to change people’s perception towards negative legume consumption, food preparation method approaches are necessary.

The use of legumes as meat binders with redeveloped meat products has a better opportunity to increase the nutritional quality of the meat products (Pintado and Delgado-Pando, 2020). Processing legume products into more convenient as well as ready-to-eat snacks can improve utilization and dietary transition to having more meals that include legumes in the diet (Ojiewo et al., 2015).

Legume nutrition education workshops for communities on growing legumes up to the preparation of legumes including legume processing to lengthen shelf-life. Food preparation methods approaches can also include the use of energy-saving technology when cooking legumes to reduce barriers to consumption. Dietary change to a more legume-based diet has been proposed as one of the approaches to decreasing the climate impact of the global and regional food systems while improving human health.

References

De Jager, I. 2019a. Nutritional benefits of legume consumption at household level in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa: A literature study. Gates Open Res, 3, 936.

Muoni, T., Barnes, A. P., Öborn, I., Watson, C. A., Bergkvist, G., Shiluli, M. & Duncan, A. J. 2019. Farmer perceptions of legumes and their functions in smallholder farming systems in east Africa. International journal of agricultural sustainability, 17, 205-218.

Ojiewo, C., Keatinge, D. J., Hughes, J., Tenkouano, A., Nair, R., Varshney, R., Siambi, M., Monyo, E., Ganga‐Rao, N. & Silim, S. 2015. The role of vegetables and legumes in assuring food, nutrition, and income security for vulnerable groups in Sub‐Saharan Africa. World Medical & Health Policy, 7, 187-210.

Pintado, T. & Delgado-Pando, G. 2020. Towards more sustainable meat products: Extenders as a way of reducing meat content. Foods, 9, 1044.

Röös, E., de Groote, A. & Stephan, A. 2022. Meat tastes good, legumes are healthy and meat substitutes are still strange-The practice of protein consumption among Swedish consumers. Appetite, 174, 106002.

Shitta, N. S., Edemodu, A. C., Abtew, W. G. & Tesfaye, A. A. 2021. A Review on the Cooking Attributes of African Yam Bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa).

Snapp, S., Rahmanian, M. & Batello, C. 2018. Pulse crops for sustainable farms in sub-Saharan Africa.

Tan, X. L., Azam-Ali, S., Goh, E. V., Mustafa, M., Chai, H. H., Ho, W. K., Mayes, S., Mabhaudhi, T., Azam-Ali, S. & Massawe, F. 2020. Bambara groundnut: An underutilized leguminous crop for global food security and nutrition. Frontiers in Nutrition, 276.

Yegrem, L. 2021. Nutritional composition, antinutritional factors, and utilization trends of ethiopian chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). International Journal of Food Science, 2021.

August 31, 2022August 31, 2022

My Research Project under LEG4DEV Project

The research project that I have been working on was sponsored and run under the LEG4DEV project at the Ryan Institute involved food preparation and food cultures in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), how food preparation methods have evolved with changing diets as well as legume consumption and preparation with the different cuisines that are influenced by the diverse cultures in SSA.

SSA has rich food cultures that shape diets as well as influence food consumption patterns. The study found that food preparation methods in SSA are passed on from older generations to younger generation through word of mouth as well as demonstrations during cooking, written recipes were hardly used.

Diets in SSA are prepared using simple carbohydrate staple eaten with soups, relishes and sauces which are prepared from a range of foodstuffs including grain legumes. Most of the protein consumption is derived from these staple foods and grain legumes (Noort et al., 2022).

Legumes in SSA are used as a source of food, generating income, feeding livestock and in some very rare cases some legume varieties are used as medicine or fuel (Muoni et al., 2019, Akpalu et al., 2013, Snapp et al., 2018, Powell et al., 2004)

Legumes that are mostly produced and consumed in SSA include: cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea [L.] Verdc.), soybean (Glycine max), chickpea (Cicer arietinum), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) and African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) (Stanton et al., 1966).

Legumes are usually consumed as a soup, relish, sauce, stew, or as a snack prepared in different ways (WFP, 2022, De Jager, 2019a).

Legume consumption in SSA is quite reasonable and people consume for many nutritional benefits as well as cultural reasons.

References

De Jager, I. 2019a. Nutritional benefits of legume consumption at household level in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa: A literature study. Gates Open Res, 3, 936.

Noort, M. W., Renzetti, S., Linderhof, V., du Rand, G. E., Marx-Pienaar, N. J., de Kock, H. L., Magano, N. & Taylor, J. J. F. 2022. Towards Sustainable Shifts to Healthy Diets and Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa with Climate-Resilient Crops in Bread-Type Products: A Food System Analysis. 11, 135.

Powell, J. M., Pearson, R. A. & Hiernaux, P. H. 2004. Crop–livestock interactions in the West African drylands. Agronomy journal, 96, 469-483.

Snapp, S., Rahmanian, M. & Batello, C. 2018. Pulse crops for sustainable farms in sub-Saharan Africa.

Stanton, W. R., Doughty, J., Orraca-Tetteh, R. & Steele, W. 1966. Grain legumes in Africa. Grain legumes in Africa.

WFP 2022. Minimum Expenditure Basket in Malawi. A Look at Food Prices and Availability in Times of COVID-19. World Food Programme.

July 8, 2022July 18, 2022

Legumes Mitigating Climate change

Legumes stand a great chance at mitigating climate change by reducing fossil fuel use or by providing feedstock for the emerging biobased economies where fossil sources of energy and industrial raw materials are replaced in part by sustainable and renewable biomass resources (Jensen et al., 2012).

The use of nitrogen (N) fertilizer from legumes is another approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing the use and production of chemical N fertilizer that is very energy-intensive and leads to emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil energy consumption and from nitrous oxide generation. Creating an energy-efficient organic fertilizer using nitrogen from natural N2 fixation is beneficial for the environment and decreases greenhouse gas emissions. The N fertilizer from legumes can be used on non-legume cash crops (Stinner, 2015).

The IPCC Report on ‘Climate Change and Land/ 2019’ highlighted that including plant-based food items as part of the ‘low greenhouse gas emission diet’ stands a good chance of mitigating the impacts of climate change while addressing the need for healthy and nutritious food for a rapidly growing population (IPCC, 2019).

References

Jensen, E.S., Peoples, M.B., Boddey, R.M., Gresshoff, P.M., Hauggaard-Nielsen, H., JR Alves, B. and Morrison, M.J., 2012. Legumes for mitigation of climate change and the provision of feedstock for biofuels and biorefineries. A review. Agronomy for sustainable development, 32(2), pp.329-364. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-011-0056-7.pdf

Stinner, P.W., 2015. The use of legumes as a biogas substrate-potentials for saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions through symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Energy, Sustainability and Society, 5(1), pp.1-7. https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s13705-015-0034-z.pdf

IPCC. 2019. Climate Change and Land. An IPCC Special Report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2019/11/SRCCL-Full-Report-Compiled-191128.pdf

July 6, 2022July 6, 2022

Legumes in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)

Legumes are versatile crops with lots of uses from a source of food to providing income, being animal feed and some legume varieties are used as medicine and fuel (Muoni et al., 2019, Akpalu et al., 2013).

Legumes have a good chance to enhance food and nutrition security in SSA because they are related to the local community’s culture and food consumption patterns. Legumes are nutritious and are able to adapt to rough climatic conditions and poor marginal soils (Abberton et al., 2022).

Legumes available and cultivated in SSA include African yam bean, bambara groundnut, cowpea, groundnuts, soybean, chickpea, pigeon pea (Stanton et al., 1966). African yam bean and bambara are part of the unpopular indigenous under-utilized orphan legumes including Kersting’s groundnut, Lima bean, and Jack bean (Popoola et al., 2022).

The inclusion of legumes in a diet could offer a lifelong solution to SSA malnutrition, hunger, and protein deficiencies because legumes are nutrient-dense, and provide great quality protein & micronutrients (Popoola et al., 2022).

Besides nutritional benefits, legumes also have environmental benefits such as enhancing soil moisture, and water effectiveness, covering the soil, reducing soil evaporation, fixing soil nitrogen, and controlling erosion and weed (Vidigal et al., 2019, Popoola et al., 2022)

Legume challenges include long cooking time, poor shelf-life, low yield, sensitivity to daylight, presence of potent anti-nutritional factors, these challenges have discouraged utilization and production because farmers are less interested in investing their time and energy in cultivating and producing legumes (Nnamani et al., 2017; Popoola et al., 2020, Popoola et al., 2022).

Other challenges include poor market price, poor demand, lack of buyers, lack of improved varieties, and inadequate capital that have hampered their production (Khan et al., 2021). To deal with these challenges and get benefits from legumes Popoola et al. (2022) suggest that there is a necessity for systematic cultivation, wide acceptance, increased utilization, strategic crop improvement and funding, and the creation of global and local market spaces to improve consumption across the SSA.

References

Abberton, M., Paliwal, R., Faloye, B., Marimagne, T., Moriam, A. & Oyatomi, O. A. 2022. Indigenous African Orphan Legumes: Potential for Food and Nutrition Security in sub-Saharan Africa. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 83.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2022.708124/full

Akpalu, M., Atubilla, I. & Oppong-Sekyere, D. 2013. Assessing the level of cultivation and utilization of bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) in the Sumbrungu community of Bolgatanga, Upper East Region, Ghana. International Journal of Plant, Animal and Environmental Sciences, 3, 68-75. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284157445_Accessing_the_level_of_cultivation_and_utilization_of_Bambara_groundnut_Vigna_subterranea_L_in_the_Sumbrungu_community_of_the_Upper_East_Region

Khan, M. M., Rafii, M. Y., Ramlee, I. S., Jusoh, M., and Al-Mamun, S. (2021c). Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea L. Verdc): A crop for the new millennium, its genetic diversity, and improvements to mitigate future food and nutritional challenges. Sustainability 15, 1–27. doi: 10.1038/ s41598-021-93867-5. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/10/5530

Nnamani, C. V., Ajayi, S. A., Oselebe, H. O., Atkinson, C. J., Igboabuchi, A. N., and Ezigbo, E. C. (2017). Sphenostylis stenocarpa (ex. A. Rich.) harms., a fading genetic resource in a changing climate: prerequisite for conservation and sustainability. Plan. Theory 6:30. doi: 10.3390/plants6030030. https://europepmc.org/article/med/28704944

Popoola, J. O., Aworunse, O. S., Ajani, O. C., Ojuederie, O. B., Adewale, D. B., Oyatomi, O. A., Eruemulor, D. I., Adegboyega, T. T. & Obembe, O. O. 2022. The exploitation of orphan legumes for food, income, and nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa. Frontiers in Plant Science, 1454. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.782140/full

Popoola, J., Ojuederie, O., Omonhinmin, C., and Adegbite, A. (2020). “Neglected and underutilized legume crops: improvement and future prospects,” in Recent Advances in Grain Crops Research. eds. F. Shah, Z. Khan, A. Iqbal, M. Turan and M. Olgun (UK: IntechOpen), 123–144. doi: 10.5772/ intechopen.87069

Stanton, W. R., Doughty, J., Orraca-Tetteh, R. & Steele, W. 1966. Grain legumes in Africa. Grain legumes in Africa.

Vidigal, P., Romeiras, M. M., and Monteiro, F. (2019). “Crops diversification and the role of orphan legumes to improve the sub-Saharan Africa farming systems,” in Crop Production. (ed). M. Hasanuzzaman (UK: IntechOpen), 1–21. https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/68083

January 4, 2022January 4, 2022

Greener Transportation: Zero-Emission Vehicles

The global COVID19 pandemic hit the world unexpectedly leading to countries going in lockdown which involved a quarantine period of 21 days or more, people were expected to stay indoors and only go outside for medical attention or essentials. The lockdown period led to industrial activities and other sectors shut down. All modes of transport were forced to a standstill because people were not allowed to travel. The standstill in the transport sector led to a decline in global oil demand which caused prices to be cut down abruptly, all this resulted in less energy consumption as well as decreased demand for oil.

COVID-19 has had a severe negative impact on human health and the world economy, however, it has also resulted in the reduction of pollution due to limited social and economic activities (Dutheil et al., 2020).

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and ESA (European Space Agency) released evidence that suggests that environmental quality improved and the emission of NO2 reduced up to 30% during the global lockdown. NASA collects the data using OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instruments) on its AURA satellite. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) states that economic activity has been limited during COVID-19 which results in a decline in CO2 emission.

Arora et al. (2020) conducted a study on how COVID19 lockdown helped the environment bounce back, the author’s focus was on India where they collected data on air quality using the air quality index which is an assessment tool used to assess air quality which shows how the air has improved before lockdown and after lockdown. The image below shows the comparisons that were conducted in India. The image shows a major decrease in pollutants after lockdown.

The image below shows the air quality analysis conducted before and after a lockdown in India

Source: NASA Air Quality Analysis (2020)

The United States of America as part of the goal to reduce GHG emissions by 2030 adopted “clean cars” which involve the use of low emission vehicles and zero-emission vehicles which tailors for clean car standards involving mostly the use of electric cars to lower emissions. The UK government intends to ban the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to lower emissions produced by cars.

The image above shows the best case scenario which shows how much fuel cars emit CO₂ compared to electric cars.

Sarmadi et al. (2021) mentioned that even though the COVID-19 pandemic had irreversible negative effects on human societies, it has been able to improve the air quality of most areas with executive restrictions in different countries. It is unfortunate that changes in 2021 have been reversed due to the reduction of some countries’ lockdown restrictions.

Aligning COVID19 recovery measures with long-term objectives for reducing GHG emissions is the goal. The application of strict laws related to COVID-19 restrictions can demonstrate the decision-making power of countries in reducing pollution and GHG in non-crisis situations.

References

Arora, S., Bhaukhandi, K. D. & Mishra, P. K. 2020. Coronavirus lockdown helped the environment to bounce back. Science of the Total Environment, 140573.

Dutheil, F., Baker, J.S., Navel, V., 2020. COVID-19 as a factor influencing air pollution? Environ. Pollut. 263 (Pt A).

Sarmadi, M., Rahimi, S., Rezaei, M., Sanaei, D. & Dianatinasab, M. 2021. Air quality index variation before and after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic: a comprehensive study on 87 capital, industrial and polluted cities of the world. Environmental Sciences Europe.

OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19). Building back better: A sustainable, resilient recovery after COVID-19. 5 June 2020

Climate group 2020. https://www.theclimategroup.org/our-work/publications/building-back-greener-how-states-and-regions-are-building-more-sustainable

Transport Environment. https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/does-electric-vehicle-emit-less-petrol-or-diesel/

https://www.rpc.co.uk/perspectives/trainees-take-on-business/build-back-greener/

December 6, 2021December 6, 2021

Phasing Down Coal Power

The burning of coal to generate electricity produces lethal gases and contributes to climate change. In order to keep 1.5C momentum active it is essential to instantly discontinue the building of new coal power plants and retiring existing coal fleets by increasing the usage of clean power in advanced economies by 2030 and globally by 2040. 65 countries committed to coal phase-out, including more than 20 new commitments at COP26. 190 countries agreed to phase down coal power, with the global pipeline of new coal plants falling by 76% since the Paris agreement. Over $20 billion of new public and philanthropic finance has been committed to supporting developing countries to scale up clean power and make the transition away from coal. Phasing out the usage of fossil fuels across the energy sector is of great importance to keep the 1.5C momentum running.

“Energy Day at COP26 brought countries together to focus on how to speed up the global energy transition towards net zero. It’s encouraging to see more pledges being made, under the leadership of the UK COP Presidency, to reduce planet-warming emissions and increase financing for clean energy.“ Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency

At COP26 34 countries and 5 public finance institutions committed to ending direct public support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector by the end of 2022. All major coal financing countries are committed to ending international coal finance by the end of 2021. International partners have organized over $20 billion for a just and inclusive transition from coal to clean energy.

This includes the $8.5 billion South Africa Just Energy Transition Partnership; the $2 billion Climate Investment Funds Accelerating Coal Transition and Renewable Energy Integration programs, which will also leverage additional finance via multilateral and private partners; a new $10 billion energy fund, the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, which will bring reliable renewable electricity to a billion people by 2030 and avoid 4 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions and the Asian Development Bank Energy Transition Mechanism to support Indonesia and the Philippines to accelerate early coal power retirement and the clean energy transition.

“Energy Day at COP26 was an important milestone for building momentum on the just, equitable clean energy transition we are striving to achieve. …I was heartened to see more countries signing onto the No New Coal Compact and the Energy Transition Council being extended.“ Damilola Ogunbiyi, UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Sustainable Energy and CEO of Sustainable Energy for All

Post COP26

The Glasgow Breakthroughs will accelerate collaboration between governments, businesses, and civil society to deliver on climate goals faster, whilst collaborative councils and dialogues in energy, electric vehicles, shipping, and commodities will help deliver on commitments. At COP26, the Paris Rulebook was finalized agreeing with the ‘enhanced transparency framework’ which involves common reporting of emissions and support, a new mechanism and standards for international carbon markets, and common timeframes for emissions reductions targets.

Countries that committed to discontinuing coal usage must keep their word and use the funds available to them to transition to clean energy by using wind energy, solar energy, bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower, nuclear energy, and natural gas to generate electricity and ensure that there are zero emissions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Countries should be held accountable for committing and actually keeping their word, there should also be a track record to keep track of the funds that are used in phasing out coal usage.

References

https://news.sky.com/story/cop26-the-key-agreements-from-glasgows-climate-summit-12457842

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20211104-cop26-190-nations-and-organisations-agree-to-phase-out-coal

https://ukcop26.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/COP26-Presidency-Outcomes-The-Climate-Pact.pdf

https://enb.iisd.org/Glasgow-Climate-Change-Conference-COP26

October 28, 2021October 28, 2021

Key issues for Sustainable Food Systems and Climate Action raised at the IFIAD 2021 Annual Conference

The IFIAD 2021 Annual conference took place virtually on the 20^th of October with a provisional theme of “A year of action: food and climate tackling agricultural food systems to COP26 and beyond”. The conference’s key concern involves the significance of agricultural food systems being featured in the decision-making at COP26.

The Minister of State responsible for land use and biodiversity at the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine Pippa Hackett mentioned the importance of involving farmers from the onset of planning for environmental conservation and conserving biodiversity for the transformation of food systems, gaining support from the national and international level is essential for the transformation of food systems.

The key issues raised in the IFIAD 2021 annual conference included the importance of an effective system approach that considers different trade-offs in order to achieve sustainable food systems; inclusive national dialogue where farmers are involved in the decision making; strong political decision-making system that should be applied when countries are facing problems; the importance of actors involved in food systems to have trust. Transparent decision-making at the selection criteria of the decision-making bodies is one way to gain trust in all those involved in the food systems another way involves formal mediation processes to ease potential disagreements and reach an agreement of ways to achieve sustainability. The formal mediation processes should include a neutral and balanced view between all decision-makers.

Smallholder farmers are perceived high risks by investors which pose a challenge for accessing funding such as investments and even loans as well as adaptation to climate change since these farmers do not have sufficient funding for climate adaptation. Government approaches and response to climate change need to be tailor-made for smallholder farmers so that it fits their scenery. To integrate climate change effectively farmers’ adoption of climate change has to involve mitigation and the solution to climate change should involve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The challenge of how the private sector, as well as civil society of indigenous groups and the gender groups, can be brought together to work together because the private sector plays an essential in food systems and global trade

Translating food systems transformation into practice is an important issue because emphasis needs to be made on shorter supply chains on local food systems and this cannot be done in the absence of a global trade system. Commitments to the transformation of the sustainability of the food system should be transformed into action. All people nationally and globally should be included in this transformation.

The disagreement between the science groups during the food systems summit was another area of lack of consensus as these groups wanted to dominate instead of uniting people and providing evidence for the need to transform agricultural food systems. Self-regulation by industry is not an option as a pathway towards sustainability and to avoid the power of banks driving solutions for farmers, finance should be spent wisely and not rely on private sector investments, and this statement. It was discussed that the private sector is essential for the food systems however some parts of it are not regulated and that alone doesn’t make it ideal for some civil society to depend entirely on it.

Source: FPA 2018 header press release website

Key issues of the food systems summit that were not discussed at the IFIAD 2021 annual conference include the boosting nature-based solution which involved a multi-stakeholder commitment to action in the agroecology initiative which basically involved restoring the degraded land and soils to transform the food systems and conserving agricultural ecology to combat the loss of biodiversity. Key Issues for COP26 include the issue of adaption to protect communities and natural habitats to protect and restore ecosystems, build defenses, warning systems, and resilient infrastructure and agriculture to avoid loss of homes, livelihoods, and even lives.