Africa’s iconic baobab tree will be first plant to be genetically mapped by the African Orphan Crops Consortium.

An article on the Food Tank website reports on the work of the consortium to genetically sequence more than 100 African ‘orphan’ crops; those that have been largely neglected by scientists yet play an important role in the diets of local communities.

The consortium, which is hosted by the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, is a partnership between public and private organizations from China, the United States and Africa. It aims to develop improved varieties of orphan crops that will be made available to smallholders everywhere.

"Indigenous crop research has lagged behind in Africa [and] improved indigenous crops have not been available to farming communities," says Felix Koskei, Kenya's Agriculture Secretary.

The baobab tree, which is found across sub-Saharan Africa, is high in Vitamin C and other nutrients. Its leaves are eaten as vegetables in West Africa, while its pulp is incorporated into porridge, juices, and other food products across the continent. The pulp can also be used by food processors for cooking oil, ice cream, sodas, energy bars, cookies, jams and even cosmetic products.

Once the baobab has been sequenced, plant breeders will be able select baobab lines that have high nutritional value and grow well.

Other crops to be sequenced include finger millet, the African eggplant, okra, amaranth, guava, taro, jackfruit, acacia, chocolate berries, shea butter, sweet bush mango and groundnut.

“We have an ambitious list of 25 crops to be sequenced in 2014,” says Alice Muchugi, Genebank Manager at the World Agroforestry Centre.

The African Orphan Crops Consortium is also be heavily involved in training African plant breeders, many whom work for national research institutes, in genomics and marker-assisted selection for crop improvement.

Read the full story: Mapping the Genomes of Africa’s ‘Orphan’ Crops