Director Soybean Innovation Lab Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois Urbana, Illinois, United States
Abstract: The Soybean Innovation Lab (SIL), a research and development lab based at the University of Illinois, has a mandate to establish the foundation for soybean development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It operates in 26 countries and 140 locations.
The Soybean Innovation Lab and its partners identified a critical component for soybean development in SSA, a thriving industrial sector comprised of processors and food and feed manufacturers. SIL research conducted in Malawi (Goldsmith et al, 2021) shows soybean as the leading crop sector in terms of downstream multipliers and industry linkages, and a top industry in terms of economic impact and employment generation.
This presentation will present research on the economics of soybean as an industrial engine for an emerging market economy as well as discuss a new collaborative initiative between SIL, AOCS, and CNFA. The Processor-to-Processor program addresses the gap in technical support, capacity building, and workforce preparedness facing the soybean industrial sector in Sub-Saharan Africa.
