Grains production in high climate change impacted regions and its potential for the supply of critical nutrients for humans nutritional well being

Abstract

Climate change affects most remarkably Savannah regions in ways that alter agricultural productivity. In addition, these regions are marked by high prevalence of malnutrition and mortality related to undernourishment in children under 5 years old. One of the most promising solutions to sustainably fight malnutrition is to design programs that will consider locally produced foods and production approaches that protect the soil. The present study was designed to evaluate the nutritional quality of grains produced in the Savannah in order to provide data that will be used to make recommendations for nutrition and sustainable farming. Farmers in the Savannah region in Togo were interviewed about their productions and their produced grains were sampled for biochemical characterization. All producers exploit family lands and mainly produce grains. More than 98% of producers breed poultry by only at the family level. Biochemical characterization of the sampled foods shows that pulses present a relative high level of sand, fatty matters and proteins. Results show that both cereals and pulses contain sufficient energy, fatty matters, vitamins and minerals that are necessary for human wellbeing. Foods formulations could be made especially for children under food substitution. In addition, pulses production is encouraged for sustainable soil preservation.Graphical abstract