Sub-Saharan African maize-based foods: Technological perspectives to increase the food and nutrition security impacts of maize breeding programmes

The demand for maize in Sub-Saharan Africa will triple by 2050 due to rapid population growth, while challenges from climate change will threaten agricultural productivity. Most maize breeding programmes have focused on improving agronomic properties and have paid relatively little attention to postharvest qualities, thus missing important opportunities to increase the contribution to food and nutrition security. This paper considers current and potential food uses of maize in Africa and proposes six objectives to enhance the contribution of maize breeding programmes to food and nutrition security: (1) enhance nutrient density; (2) enhance suitability for use in bread and snacks; (3) improve characteristics for consumption as green maize; (4) improve characteristics that enhance the efficiency of local processing; (5) reduce waste by maximising useful product yield and minimising nutrient losses; (6) reduce the anti-nutrient content of grain.