The African Biofortified Sorghum Project, a nine-member consortium, has been offered a Grand Challenge in a Global Health grant of US$16.9 million, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The consortium will develop a new variety of sorghum for the more than 300 million people in arid regions of Africa who rely on this grain as their primary source of food. Sorghum is one of the few crops that grow well in arid climates, but it is deficient in most essential nutrients, and is difficult to digest when cooked.

The project seeks to develop a more nutritious and easily digestible sorghum that contains increased levels of pro-vitamin A, vitamin E, iron, zinc, amino acids, and protein. A prototype, containing increased levels of the amino acid lysine, has already been successfully developed.

The consortium comprises the Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International (AHBFI), Pioneer Hi-Bred (a Dupont subsidiary), the Council for Science and Industrial Research (CSIR), the International Center for Research in Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), African the Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the Technical Partner of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the University of Pretoria, the University of Missouri, and the Agricultural Research Council (ARC).