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The decision by the Government of Kenya in 2013 to increase tax revenue by imposing excise duty of 50 percent on sorghum beer resulted in economic losses for smallholders, the brewery, and the government itself because it effectively killed the value chain. In 2015, the government reversed the policy decision and reduced excise duty to 10 percent. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of this policy decision on the value chain, adaptation by growers and the brewery, and the rationale for this policy change and its reversal.

The author analyzes this episode using a conceptual framework derived from complex adaptive systems, focusing on four properties of such systems: sudden, endogenous shocks, interacting agents, and adaptation.

The author shows how the nature of politics in Kenya exposed the value chain to endogenous shocks as the result of conflicts between interacting agents, where smallholder farmer organizations were important for successful adaptation. Conflicts between development and political objectives in neo-patrimonial states are sources of complexity and uncertainty in smallholder value chains.

Complex adaptive systems proved a useful framework to understand decision making by government and business actors in the value chain.

The paper applies a novel conceptual framework to the analysis of an important value chain in Kenya.

This paper aims to focus on the effect of Sorghum bicolour on the quality characteristics of chevon cutlets and to evaluate the effect of clove oil on the storage quality of aerobically packaged chevon cutlets.

Three levels of sorghum flour, namely, 2, 4 and 6 per cent, were incorporated in the formulation, and the products developed were assessed for various physicochemical, sensory, texture and colour parameters. Chevon cutlets containing optimum level of sorghum flour were treated with clove oil (100 ppm) and evaluated for storage quality for 15 days under refrigerated conditions (4 ± 1°C). The products were analysed for various physicochemical, microbiological and sensory parameters.

Crude fibre, texture parameters, i.e. hardness, adhesiveness, springiness, cohesiveness, chewiness, gumminess and product redness value, showed significant (p < 0.05) increasing trend, whereas moisture per cent, fat content and overall acceptability decreased significantly (p < 0.05) with increasing levels of incorporation. Chevon cutlets containing 6 per cent sorghum flour were optimized as best. Thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance value (mg malonaldehyde/kg), total plate count (cfu/g) and psychrophillic count (cfu/g) showed a significant increasing trend (p < 0.05), whereas all the sensory parameters decreased significantly (p < 0.05) with increasing days of storage. The products were successfully stored for 10 days under refrigerated conditions (4 ± 1°C) without marked loss in quality.

The paper has demonstrated the potential of sorghum as a fibre source in the development of designer chevon cutlets and effect of clove oil on the storage quality of aerobically packaged chevon cutlets.

Sorghum is quite comparable to wheat, rich source of nutrients with various health benefits, and therefore considered as a grain of future. The purpose of this paper is to review the bioactive active compounds, health benefits and processing of the sorghum. Sorghum is utilized for animal feeding rather than the human food usage. Therefore, this paper focuses on the emerging new health foods with benefits of the sorghum.

Major well-known bibliometric information sources searched were the Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus and PubMed. Several keywords like nutritional value of sorghum, bioactive compounds present in sorghum, health benefits of sorghum and processing of sorghum were chosen to obtain a large range of papers to be analyzed. A final inventory of 91 scientific sources was made after sorting and classifying them according to different criteria based on topic, academic field country of origin and year of publication.

From the literature reviewed, sorghum processing through various methods, including milling, malting, fermentation and blanching, bioactive compounds, as well as health benefits of sorghum were found and discussed.

Through this paper, possible processing methods and health benefits of sorghum are discussed after detailed studies of literature from journal articles.

Sorghum is a vital cereal crop and staple food for many peoples around the globe having good nutritional and health-promoting bioactive compounds and recently received great attention as gluten-free food. However, sorghum grains contain low β-glucans contents, dietary fibre polysaccharides with great technological and disease prevention properties, and improving the concentration of these compounds in sorghum is very important. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the physicochemical and starch properties of high β-glucan sorghum inbred line (Tabat-NL) in comparison with two commercial cultivars (Wadakar and Tabat-C).

Grain samples of sorghum cultivars: white colour and low tannin cultivar (Tabat-C), red colour and high tannin sorghum, and new inbred line of white sorghum cultivar (Tabat-NL) were carefully cleaned, examined for physical properties (colour, hectolitre and 1,000 kernel weights, and endosperm texture), and ground to flour and assessed for chemical composition (moisture, protein, ash, carbohydrate, sugars, fibre and β-glucan contents). The starch was extracted and investigated for morphological characteristics and functional properties.

The results showed that Tabat-NL grains contain significantly (p=0.05) higher values of 1,000 kernel weight, hectolitre weight, total carbohydrate, amylopectin, dietary fibre and β-glucan compared to Tabat-C and Wadakar. Tabat-NL starch had greater (p=0.05) gelatinization temperature, viscosity, bulk density, and water and oil holding capacities and lower (p=0.05) acidity compared to Tabat-C and Wadakar.

The outcomes of this study demonstrated that Tabat-NL grains had an excellent marketing and milling properties, health-promoting and disease-preventing potentials, and technological features for uses in functional and speciality foods.

To the best of our understating, this is the first study on the evaluation of sorghum cultivar with high β-glucan content and could thus provide the bases for further development and application of this important food grains.

New agricultural technologies are continuously generated and promoted for adoption by farmers with the expectation that they bring about higher benefits than older technologies. Yet, depending on the perceived benefits, the user of the technology may choose to stop using it. This paper aims to analyze what drives farmers to dis-adopt climate smart sorghum varieties in Tanzania.

The study uses cross-sectional farm household level data collected in Tanzania from a sample of 767 households. The determinants of dis-adoption are explored using a bivariate probit with sample selection model.

The authors find that while farmers switch between different sorghum varieties, most farmers actually quit sorghum production. Older farmers and those facing biotic stresses such attacks by birds are more likely to dis-adopt sorghum.

These findings suggest that there is scope for improving and sustaining the adoption of sorghum varieties in Tanzania once extension services are strengthened. The findings also point to a well-founded theory on the role of markets in enhancing the overall sustainability of food systems.

The study findings have broader implications for understanding the sustainability of improved technology adoption

Dis-adoption is also positively associated with the lack of access to markets underscoring the role of markets in enhancing the overall sustainability of technology adoption and food systems.

The paper provides a new definition of healthy and functional food considering the case of sorghum, which is dealing with environmental challenges, calling for exploration of eco-conscious consumers' behavior in the free-from food innovative market.

Through a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis, this article offers a deep and broad outlook on a sustainable open innovations approach for agri-food systems. The bibliometric analysis includes a total of 198 scientific papers, deeply analyzed through Bibliometrix package.

Results show increasing academic interest in sustainable innovations for the agri-food system, where the relevance of the food-grade sorghum is noticed. An open innovation approach is called for to deal with environmental challenges.

Theoretically, the research offers a new definition of healthy and functional food in line with current environmental challenges. It also provides a deep literature review on eco-conscious consumers and food-grade sorghum as functional food in the context of the free-from food market.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the sensory properties and chemical composition of corn and sorghum flakes manufactured using 25, 50, 75 and 100 per cent date syrup (DS), instead of sugar.

Ten individuals assessed the overall acceptability, taste, texture and aroma of flakes. The chemical composition of each type of flake was determined, and these characteristics compared with those of control corn and sorghum flakes (without DS).

The overall acceptability of sorghum flakes ranged from 6.3 (100 per cent DS flakes) to 6.8 (25 per cent DS flakes); however, the difference was not significant. Values for taste, texture and aroma of sorghum flakes ranged from 5.3 (taste of 100 per cent DS flakes) to 7.2 (texture of 25 per cent DS flakes). For corn flakes, values ranged from 6.20 (aroma of 100 per cent DS flakes) to 7.20 (texture of 25 per cent DS flakes). For both sorghum and corn, the colors of 25-100 per cent DS flakes were significantly different from controls (p = 0.0002). The total carbohydrate, fat, protein and ash contents were 81.669 per cent, 1.545 per cent, 13.27 per cent and 3.52 per cent for corn flour, and 83.38-85.78 per cent, 1.7-2.0 per cent, 10.02-12.13 per cent and 2.36-3.92 per cent for sorghum flour, respectively. The total carbohydrate, fat, protein and ash contents were 81.63 per cent, 5.75 per cent, 9.80 per cent and 2.82 per cent for corn, and 86.31-84.99 per cent, 3.15-4.27 per cent, 7.64-7.94 per cent and 2.92-2.79 per cent for sorghum flakes, respectively.

Corn and sorghum flakes produced with DS are acceptable to consumers, and their nutrient values indicate potential health benefits.

The purpose of this paper is to study the quality of porridge made from cereal legume composite flour and to compare with a porridge that it is traditionally eaten.

The nutritional composition as well as protein, microbiological, and sensory quality of porridge from a sorghum bean composite flour was assessed and compared with sorghum porridge (SP) that is traditionally eaten in Botswana.

Results indicated that the nutrient composition and the protein quality of the sorghum bean composite porridge were significantly higher than that of the SP. The majority of children and adults rated the sensory attributes of the sorghum composite porridge highly and adult consumers indicated willingness to buy it.

The study demonstrates that using traditionally consumed foods, which are culturally acceptable and low cost, such as sorghum and sugar beans, can improve nutritional and sensory attributes when composited. These composited foods can then be recommended as a sustainable supplementary food source to improve the nutritional status and health of vulnerable populations such as HIV+ children.

The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of the herbicide triclopyr, nitrogen and their combinations on Striga incidence and sorghum growth.

A greenhouse study was undertaken in season 2013. Sorghum cv Wad Ahmed, urea and triclopyr were employed. Treatments were arranged in a randomized complete design with four replicates.

Nitrogen alone suppressed the parasite completely early in the season. Triclopyr at 0.3 and 0.4 kg a.e. ha−1 reduced Striga emergence by 92.9 and 58.3 per cent early and late in the season, respectively. Triclopyr at 0.3 kg a.e. ha−1 applied subsequent to nitrogen at 43.8 kg ha−1 effected poor control of the parasite. Unrestricted Striga parasitism reduced sorghum height and chlorophyll content by 50.38 and 16.62 per cent, respectively. Triclopyr, nitrogen and their combination improved sorghum growth considerably.

The results suggest that the herbicide when applied subsequent to nitrogen afforded the most consistent performance and resulted in the highest suppression of the parasite.

This paper aims to develop a market-driven mechanism for commodity price insurance in developing countries lacking access to futures markets or other forms of hedging products.

The model incorporates futures, exchange rate and local basis risk under the Black-Scholes framework to develop quanto (quantity adjusting option). When the domestic price of a commodity in a developing country is strongly correlated to the price in a futures market, price support premiums can be estimated. The authors use daily corn futures prices, exchange rate MXP/USD, and prices of corn and sorghum at several locations in Mexico.

The authors calculated the price insurance premium at various local markets in Mexico for corn and sorghum. The results are consistent with those for the USA, showing that relative price premiums are similar.

The results provide a benchmark to estimate the net welfare effects of government programs for agricultural price support.

The model shows that privately provided agricultural price insurance is feasible under certain conditions for developing countries without an established futures market.

This paper provides market-based agricultural options in Mexico which contributes to the existing government price support program.