Evaluation and promotion of cultivated and wild ENSET for climate change adaptations and utilization through value addition and industrialization of products in Ethiopia and Kenya

Imbalance between food supply and population growth remained a global development challenge while endeavours on food production are challenged by climate change particularly in East Africa. Domesticated only in Ethiopia, Enset (Ensete ventricosum) is genetically diverse species, climate resilient and provides food security and other multiple benefits for about 20 million people. However, Bacterial wilt disease, lack of evidence on environmental adaptation, labour intensive traditional processing technologies and limited value addition led to confined domestication in parts of Ethiopia. Moreover, desirable traits of genetic resources of wild Ensete ventricosum in Ethiopia and other African countries (e.g. Kenya) are poorly explored. Therefore, this collaborative project aims to utilize the rich Enset genetic resources through developing and promoting new knowledge to help solve the food security problem in East Africa. The main focuses of the project are to develop tissue culture protocols for four Ethiopian cultivated Enset landraces and wild populations in Kenya, test drought and disease tolerance of these accessions including molecular basis, and scale up innovative enset processing technologies in Ethiopia and demonstrate Enset-based food products and their popularization in Ethiopia and Kenya. Disease free planting material production, evidence based insights on biotic and abiotic stress tolerance of Ensete ventricosum and expanding innovative processing technologies would enhance enset for sustainable food security and livelihoods in wider geographies in Ethiopia. This project is also expected to raise importance of Enset genetic resources for regional food security and resilience to climate change.