The Peanut Innovation Lab has scheduled a webinar to provide background and answer questions about two requests for proposals to work with the lab. The program will take concept notes for projects in the area of Nutrition and Gender/Youth considerations until Aug. 3. The webinar will be held July 16 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.
The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut is a $14 million to $35 million program to address various aspects of peanut production, processing, marketing and consumption in certain target countries. Projects in the areas of variety development and value-chain gains were proposed earlier this year and will be announced soon.
In the area of nutrition, the program is looking for innovative research proposals in understanding the value of peanuts in human nutrition. With highly digestible protein, high quality fats and many important micronutrients, peanuts are a key ingredient of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic and Supplementary Foods that treat severe and moderate acute malnutrition. At the same time, peanuts have the potential to help control chronic diseases that are of increasing importance in the developing world, including obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
For gender and youth topics, the program seeks innovative research proposals directed toward understanding gender and youth priorities in the peanut value chain. Peanut is considered a women’s crop in many countries, especially in the developing world. While that saying means different things to different people, it is important to understand the roles women, men and youth play in the peanut value chain.
Email ftfpeanutlab@uga.edu with questions or go to the Peanut Innovation Lab’s Work With Us page.
Again, the webinar will be held July 16 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time at https://zoom.us/j/953635784