Green Resources Innovations For Livelihood Improvement

Project summary

The proposed collaborative project titled “Green Resources Innovations for Livelihood Improvement (GRILI)’ will be carried out in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and Manyara region where Synadenium glaucescens, and Commiphora swynnertonii are found in plenty and highly utilized as source of traditional medicine. Its main objective is to catalyse the socio-economic development and poverty reduction through training, research and expansion of market opportunities of value added Green Resource Products (GRPs) with pharmacological value for livelihood improvement. The specific objective of GRILI is to strengthen the research capacity and generate new knowledge of relevance to adding value and commercialization of GRPs in Tanzania. The project will apply innovative methods to identify and characterize antimicrobial active ingredients of GRPs from S. glaucescens and C. swynnertonii; determine the likelihood that resistance will develop towards antimicrobial active ingredients of GRPs; determine the extent and effect of adulteration of GRPs in the Tanzanian market; develop a business model for commercialization of GRPs by different actors in the GRP-value and supply chains; and disseminate research results to policy makers and end users at national and international levels. One post-doc, 4 PhD and 2 MSc students will be trained and institutional research capacity build at the Tanzanian institutions with emphasis at SUA. The anticipated longterm impact of the project is increased employment opportunities and incomes, and improved livelihoods of the green resources-dependent communities as well as contribution to competitive economic growth of the country.