Knowledge Generation

Jed Sundwall of Open Imagery Network Inc. in the U.S. will collect and curate high-quality agricultural mapping data from drone imagery in Kenya that has commercial value and can also be openly accessed for public good purposes. High quality and timely geospatial data is often only collected in the commercial sector, which makes it too expensive for the public and philanthropic sectors to access and use to address development challenges.

Mary Glover-Amengor of the Food Research Institute in Ghana will investigate whether drinking soymilk-burkina, a Ghanaian indigenous fermented milk and millet beverage (smoothie), improves the nutritional status and gut health of women of reproductive age living in the Volta and Oti regions of Ghana. They will produce the soymilk-burkina and test it for bacterial and fungal content and consumer acceptability.

Manoja Kumar Das of the INCLEN Trust International in India will determine the optimal dose of traditional fermented rice-water (pakhala/torani) to improve the nutritional status and the gut and vaginal microbiomes in women of reproductive age in Odisha, India, to promote maternal health. They will provide different rice types and fermentation protocols for households to prepare torani and also prepare it in the laboratory and evaluate its stability and nutritional and microbial content.

Heather Jaspan of the University of Cape Town in South Africa will conduct a randomized controlled trial of post-partum South African mothers to determine whether unpasteurized mageu is more nutritious and promotes a healthier gut microbiome than pasteurized mageu, which is more commonly consumed. Mageu is a common grain-based fermented porridge used as a weaning food in infants and as an energy drink in adults. It is generally produced in pasteurized form, which may inactive the live bacteria that can boost health.

Laeticia Celine Toe of Institut de Recherches en Sciences de la Santé in Burkina Faso will evaluate the nutritional content of traditionally-fermented millet porridge and its effects on gut health and inflammation in women of reproductive age in rural Burkina Faso. Maternal undernutrition affects child survival and is a major problem in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. This could be addressed by enhancing the nutritional content of common foods, which can be done by fermentation.

Syed Asad Ali and colleagues of Aga Khan University in Pakistan will perform a clinical trial to test whether traditional fermented pickles (achars) reduce gut inflammation and promote healthy bacterial growth in women of reproductive age from the poor rural Matiari district in Pakistan, to help reduce rates of childhood stunting. Key drivers of childhood stunting are poor maternal health and nutrition, which could be improved by regular ingestion of fermented foods, although this has never been tested in a real-life setting.

Amira Roess of George Washington University in the U.S. will perform a longitudinal study of Campylobacter transmission in rural Bangladesh to determine all the routes of transmission to young children, both within households and from the environment. Campylobacter is a major cause of diarrheal disease in children under five years of age, but transmission routes in low- to middle-income settings are largely unknown, making it hard to control.

Ross Colgate of the University of Vermont in the U.S. will test whether mother-to-child transmission of the potentially deadly diarrhea-causing pathogen Campylobacter is a major cause of infection in infants in low- to middle-income countries. Campylobacter infections are assumed to occur via contaminated food or water, or infected animals. However, infants are often also infected even though their exposure to these sources is limited given they are immobile and only ingest milk.

Song Liang of Public Land Grant University in the U.S. will study how children in low- and middle-income settings become infected with the zoonotic pathogen Campylobacter, which causes potentially lethal diarrhea, in order to develop more effective interventions.

This project will investigate the joint effects of exposure to particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide on maternal and child health. The joint and non-linear effects of these pollutants on maternal and child health will be evaluated, followed by those from wild fires and fires in the northern region.