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| Photo by Erika Fish, QUT |
A world-first Queensland research project is developing bananas to boost the nutrition of African children. Uganda has one of the highest child death rates in the world due to malnutrition. But that’s a tragedy which Queensland University of Technology international biotechnology expert Professor James Dale believes can be reversed.
Bananas are a staple food in Uganda with locals eating an average of one kilogram per person per day. But the local variety, the East African highland banana, is low in iron and pro-vitamin A and leaves 40 per cent of Ugandan children with anaemia.
"Our team at QUT is developing a variety with the ability to take up more iron from the ground," Professor Dale said.
"It is a long term project which may not see fortified fruit on the table for another 10 years but it is a more practical and sustainable option than food aid."
PhD student Priver Namanya from Uganda is working at QUT on enhancing pro-vitamin A and iron accumulation genes in Cavendish bananas. She will then assist local scientists in Uganda to apply the new techniques to local bananas.
The project is backed by Grand Challenges in Global Health which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bananas are so integral to the Ugandans’ diet that the Ugandan word for fruit – matooke - also means banana.
http://www.ihbi.qut.edu.au/research/tropical
Last reviewed 29 January 2007