Climate-Smart Beans Bring Hope to Ugandan Farmers
Farmers in Uganda can now add a new climate-smart bean to their toolbox to respond to an increasingly hot climate and rife malnutrition.
Scientists have developed five new ‘biofortified’ varieties, enriched with iron and zinc through a natural process of selective breeding, which are able to withstand drought more effectively than conventional breeds currently on the market.
In a country where beans provide 40% of the proteins consumed by the poor and are grown by over 85% of the 18 million farmers, climate-proofing their main staple could be a life-saver for the rural population of Uganda.
Drought is currently ravaging East Africa, after an exceptionally intense and long El Niño which some observers are afraid will rapidly morph into La Niña.
Gunnar Magnusson