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How can avocado improve the livelihoods of smallholders in Tanzania?

Picture by Quinn Dombrowski via flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Avocado has important nutritional values and the potential to contribute to cash flow in smallholder farming particularly for women in Tanzania.

Chances of high value crops entering local, regional markets and beyond is, however, often constrained by quality, particularly for home garden smallholder farmer settings. The possibilities to increase the potential of avocado productivity, quality and value chain will be now be investigated through fieldwork on avocado genetic resources in Tanzania and through DNA and fingerprinting of avocado germplasm at SLU.

Mr. Ibrahim Juma Vuga from the University of Dar es Salaam has just begun his PhD education at the Department of Plant Breeding of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Alnarp. He is participating in the Sida research and training programme “Sustainable Agricultural Productivity, Processing, and Value Chain for Enhancing Food Security in Tanzania (SAPPV)” between the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) and SLU. His first period for the 4-year “sandwich program” will be until 31st January 2017. His fieldwork on avocado genetic resources is in Tanzania, where gets support from UDSM and SLU. Lab research on tissue culture for micro-propagation and DNA fingerprinting of avocado germplasm will be undertaken at SLU in Alnarp. Rodomiro Ortiz, Chair Professor in genetics and plant breeding is his SLU main supervisor, while Prof. Agnes Nyomora is his main supervisor at UDSM, and Prof. Anders S. Carlsson, Dr. Helena Persson Hovmalm and Dr. Moneim Fatih are his other SLU co-supervisors.

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