Researchers and entrepreneurs bring back forgotten gems: underutilized crops transformed into healthy snacks

In Kenya, the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, in collaboration with the Japan Association for International Collaboration of Agriculture and Forestry (JAICAF), IEDA Confectionary Limited, (a Japanese company), and the National Museums of Kenya, introduced the pressure popping, a technique that uses heat pressure to turn different grains into snacks. Their focus is to re-introduce these traditional food crops in communities, demonstrate local benefits, and encourage their cultivation and consumption in novel forms other than the conventional preparation methods of porridge and ugali, which can be monotonous and boring, especially to children and youth.