[ti:Improving nutrition through African Orphan Crops] [ar:Christopher Cruise] [al:Agriculture Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, [00:03.19]this is the Agriculture Report. [00:06.45]Things may be changing soon for some crops in Africa. [00:11.96]A group called the African Orphan Crops Consortium says [00:17.57]these plants are not getting enough attention. [00:21.67]And it thinks they could help ease hunger [00:24.74]and improve nutrition on the continent. [00:28.19]The consortium opened the African Plant Breeding Academy [00:32.97]last year in Nairobi, Kenya. [00:35.69]The academy is the result of cooperation [00:39.70]among international organizations. [00:43.17]They are hoping to use genetic information [00:46.79]from 100 African plants and trees [00:50.35]that researchers have largely ignored, [00:53.95]but food scientists say [00:56.71]these crops have lots of possibilities. [01:00.67]Howard Yana-Shapiro is a senior fellow [01:04.54]at the University of California, Davis. [01:08.30]He is also the chief agricultural officer [01:12.03]and global director of Plant Science and External Research [01:17.19]for Mars Incorporated - the candy company. [01:21.46]Mr Shapiro says he began thinking about ways [01:25.88]to improve nutrition at the local level after seeing [01:30.34]how poor nutrition affects children in Africa and India. [01:35.76]He says a woman who does not eat right during her pregnancy [01:40.12]can affect the physical and mental health of a baby. [01:44.53]These problems, he says, can not be corrected. [01:49.31]Mr Shapiro spoke to VOA from Nairobi. [01:53.44]He said the African Plant Breeding Academy [01:57.11]will work on many different kinds of plants. [02:01.24]He says hundreds of African plants have been ignored [02:05.04]because they are not economically important in international trade. [02:10.61]But food scientists say the plants [02:14.09]still have value to people in Africa. [02:17.39]The African Orphan Crops Consortium [02:20.91]plans to train plant breeders and researchers [02:24.83]over a one-year period about the genetics of these crops. [02:30.36]The consortium hopes they will produce more food [02:34.27]with higher nutritional levels. [02:36.95]Mr Shapiro says anything researchers learn [02:40.96]will be shared with the world without cost. [02:45.22]And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English. [02:50.34]For more agriculture stories, [02:53.31]go to our website 51voa.com, [03:00.65]where you can also find transcripts, [03:03.36]MP3s and podcasts of our reports. [03:07.82]I'm Christopher Cruise. [03:09.78]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51voa.com