Ghanaian partners bring a new product co-developed with academics to help tackle malnutrition

The School for Business and Society, University of York, was pleased to host a visit from colleagues of the University for Development Studies (UDS) in Ghana. Professor Seidu Al-hassan (Vice Chancellor of UDS), Professor Mamudu A. Akudugu (Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Institute, UDS) and Mr Gideon Adjorlolo (AAKTP Coordinator) have worked together with Professor Jeff Jia and Dr Karolos Papadas on the first African Agri-food Knowledge Transfer Partnership (AAKTP), funded by Innovate UK. The UDS team brought with them the new product developed out of the AAKTP, the 'C-Real', a new cereal product with fortified flour.

Driving positive change with 'C-Real'

The 'C-Real' is currently available in 25 schools and has already contributed to tackling malnutrition, providing a healthy, nutritious and safe meal in deprived areas in five northern regions of Ghana. What is more, through the improvement of the Agri-food value chains of Savannah & Sahel Commodities Ltd, a local small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) producing the 'C-Real', shared value has been created across various stakeholders in the local community, such as farmers and female workers.

Real world impact

The AAKTP team had the opportunity to share the success story of 'C-Real' as well as their future plans with Professor Ambrose Field (Pro-Vice Chancellor for Global Strategy, University of York), Richard Lamb (KTP Manager, UK), Professor Bob Doherty (Dean, School for Business and Society) and Professor Anne-Marie Greene (Director of Research Impact, School for Business and Society).

The Vice Chancellor of UDS, Professor Seidu Al-hassan commented:

''Our visit to the University of York was great and a big learning platform. I enjoyed it because there were many opportunities to share academic and research experiences. The visit will forever remind us of the importance of academic collaboration, especially when it is built on trust.''

Research for public good

The Director of the Interdisciplinary Institute, Professor Mamudu Akudugu, also commented on the AAKTP and described it as a ''a two-year, impactful academic-industry research partnership that led to the development and production of a food product ('C-Real') to fight malnutrition in Ghana while creating guaranteed markets for smallholder farmers." He also reflected on the UDS visit and the interactions with the University of York faculty ''...that reinforced our common interest of research for the public good as demonstrated in the AAKTP over the last two years."

The UDS team with Dr Karolos Papadas, Rukmal Abeysekera, Fiona Bond and Richard Lamb