The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has launched a new programme aimed at increasing the production, profitability, resilience and marketability of nutritious grain legumes and cereals grown in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

In a statement, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT) said it would manage the US$413 million Program on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals Agri-food Systems (CRP GLDC).

The programme, set to run between 2018 and 2022, seeks to achieve some of the CGIAR’s 5 strategic targets which include hunger relief for 150 million people, poverty relief for 100 million people and 190 million hectares less of degraded land by 2030.

The project area covers Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ethiopia, Sudan, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, India and Myanmar.

“The CRP has prioritised integrated research for development on 6 legumes, namely chickpea, cowpea, pigeon pea, groundnut, lentil and soya bean, as well as 3 cereals, namely sorghum, pearl millet, and finger millet which are grown in semi-arid and sub-humid dryland agro-ecologies.

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