In Rwanda and Uganda farmers depend on beans for income, but selling raw beans doesn’t provide much profit. Soon, a $450,000 grant will help ISU researchers from four departments find ways for bean farmers to cut costs and add value by processing beans before they sell them.

“[Beans] are a very important source of protein for people in the developing world,” said Robert Mazur, director of the ISU Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, which is coordinating Iowa State’s efforts, and associate professor of sociology.

The project will look for low-tech processing techniques – techniques that don’t require a huge capital investment – to improve the nutritional value of the beans or to help farmers sell them for a higher price. For example, beans could be ground into flour or cooked before they are sold.

Mazur said researchers will also look at the economics of bean farming to help cut costs and to help farmers better understand the market for their products. The ISU researchers will partner with Volunteer Efforts for Development Concerns, a non-governmental organization in Uganda, to analyze consumer preferences in the area.

The project will be primarily funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, which recently awarded a $450,000 grant to Michigan State, the managing entity for the project. Iowa State got a sub-contract from Michigan State for their work in Uganda.

The grant is intended to last two-and-a-half years, but Mazur said it will probably last longer.

As part of the same project, two Ph.D. students from Uganda will receive partial funding to study food science and human nutrition and agronomy at Iowa State. The students will begin their studies in August.

Some research will be done at Iowa State, such as the research regarding the nutritional profiles of the beans, but much of it will have to be done overseas. Mark Westgate, professor of agronomy, is one of the ISU researchers who will be traveling to Africa in June and again in 2009.

“This is an exciting new adventure for me,” Westgate said.

Westgate said he will be able to provide expertise in how the farmers grow the beans, and how that impacts the beans’ quality and nutritional value.

Other ISU researchers involved in the study are Suzanne Hendrich, professor of food science and human nutrition, and Helen Jensen, professor of economics.

Mazur will help lead the research, and he said he hopes to include graduate students as well.