Dr. Bolanle Otegbayo has a yen for yams. This researcher is determined to help farmers capitalize on “the king of crops” as Dioscorea
is known in her native Nigeria, which produces 68 percent of the world’s yam harvest (50 million tonnes).
Yams are more than a mere tuber to Nigerians, says Otegbayo. “Yams are intimately linked to our economic, social, and cultural life. For instance, a man must give yams as part of a bride’s dowry. And no ceremony is complete without a dish of pounded yams. Every farmer grows them,” explains Otegbayo, a lecturer at Bowen University in Nigeria.
Yams are intimately linked to our economic, social, and cultural life. For instance, a man must give yams as part of a bride’s dowry. And no ceremony is complete without a dish of pounded yams. Every farmer grows them,” explains Otegbayo, a lecturer at Bowen University in Nigeria.
Field of Research
I believe my research on the molecular composition of yam starches will have a lasting impact on the nutritional and food security status in my country.
AWARD Fellow promoted to professor at Nigeria’s Bowen University
Date: January 29, 2021
A 2009 AWARD Fellow and a three-time Mentor, Bolanle otegbayo, from Nigeria has been promoted to the rank of professor at Bowen University, Nigeria. Professor Otegbayo is a food scientist and a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Food Science and Technology at Bowen University in Nigeria. She holds an MSc and a PhD in Food Technology from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Her research interest involves investigating the food quality and industrial potential of Nigerian yams to contribute to the expansion and diversification of their use.
AWARD Fellow Wins Prestigious Pearl Grant
Date: July 15, 2015
Bolanle Otegbayo, a Nigerian national, AWARD Fellow, and later AWARD Mentor, has won the prestigious ‘Programme for Emerging Agricultural Research Leaders’ (PEARL II) grant, worth USD500,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Her project, which proposes to “Develop Indicators for Phenotyping Food Quality Traits in Dioscorea Yam” was one of only 7, from among 500 submissions to reach the primary stage of the competition.