OUR FELLOWS
Born in Ghana, Mavis Owureku-Asare learned to be independent when she went off to boarding school at age six, where a teacher encouraged her to pursue science. Food preparation and cooking became a later passion, and the wife of her high school chemistry teacher, a nutritionist working for the World Health Organization, developed her interest in a career in the food industry. She obtained a BSc degree in nutrition and food science from the University of Ghana, and after graduation she spent her national service working for the Ghana Standards Authority, testing food imports for their nutritional content. She later returned to university to pursue a master’s degree in food science.
We have so many indigenous food products that can be promoted both locally and internationally, but we need food scientists to conduct research to optimize these products and give them a longer shelf life,” says Owureku-Asare “Food scientists should also promote indigenous foods to help upgrade and promote the local food industry.
Field of Research
Agro-processing, product development, postharvest management, and preservation of agricultural produce such as cereals, legumes, roots, tubers, fruits, and vegetables.
Fellows Stories
Personality Profile: How a Ghanaian Scientist is working to decrease Ghana’s dependence on tomato paste (Part II)
Date: January 2, 2013
The first part of this was published last week and both episodes have been culled from a recent interview I had with Dr. Mavis Owureku-Asare, a recipient of the OWSD Early Career Fellowship, a prestigious fellowship that awards up to $50,000 to women who have completed their doctorates in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) on Breakfast Daily on Citi TV.
Fellows Stories
Reflections on 2014 World Food Prize Mavis Owureku-Asare
Date: October 30, 2014
Mavis Owureku-Asare is a specialist in food preservation and post-harvest management of fresh agricultural produce. She is a Research Scientific Officer at the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute - Ghana Atomic Energy Commission. She earned her BSc in Nutrition and Food Science and MPhil in Food Science, both from the University of Ghana.
Fellows Stories
A New Market for Dried Tomatoes in Ghana?
Date: August 17, 2014
The tomato is one of the basic elements in African cooking; and Ghana is no exception to the rule. Although a tomato producer (350,000 tons per year/FAO), the country imports a large quantity to meet the population's needs, primarily because nearly 40-50 percent of tomatoes produced in Ghana are lost or discarded as post harvest losses.
Fellows Stories
Minimizing Postharvest Losses Among Smallholder Tomato Farmers in Ghana
Date: February 26, 2016
AWARD Fellow Mavis Owureku-Asare is Research Scientific Officer at the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission.