Group picture of participants at the sorghum conference in France.
A global sorghum conference was held in France from 5th -9th June 2023, whose theme was “Resiliency and Sustainability in the Face of Climate Change.” CTDT together with the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute, Oxfam Novib and Akina Mama wa Africa presented the participatory variety development work that CTDT under the SD=HS program has been engaged in together with the farmers. The innovative breeding approach presented is one that aims to shift breeding methods to consider the involvement of farmers at the early stages of crop development. This gives farmers opportunity to contribute to decision making in crop development processes and balances the power of plant genetic resource management. The approach bridges the gap between scientific and indigenous knowledge systems as both systems complement one another. The greater benefits are the development of varieties that address the needs of farmers, development of varieties that are gender sensitive and responsive in traits as well as varieties that are well adapted to the local environments that farmers exist. See link for abstract.
