Obstructive water weeds become soil improver in Zambia

Although these weeds are a problem in Zambian rivers, they can be a great source of nutrients and organic matter for agricultural soils. The exact value of the water weeds will be studied by using various types of weeds and processing methods (compost and bokashi), followed by an analysis of their impact on soil processes and the growth of sorghum after they’ve been added to the soil.

The project in Zambia is a sub-project of another WUR study for which project leader Gerlinde de Deyn won the FoodShot Global Groundbreaker Prize in 2019. This research project focuses on making a traditional beverage from sorghum grain with micro-organisms from local Munkoyo plants that only grow in the wild. The result is a non-alcoholic beverage with a high nutritional value and more vitamins than sorghum grain itself. Both projects involve close cooperation with the University of Zambia and local farmers.

De Deyn is delighted with the donation: “As well as being a unique opportunity for a Zambian PhD candidate to develop further and contribute to new knowledge, it also lays the foundation for continued cooperation in Zambia in the field of fundamental and applied knowledge.” In addition, the collaboration with the University of Zambia creates opportunities for De Deyn’s teaching as well as for the students she supervises: “It gives them the chance to participate in a research project in a completely different environment than the Netherlands or even Europe.”