Nkumbu Mutwale Mutale is currently working on the analysis of hydrogen cyanide and aflatoxins in cassava, a staple crop in Zambia. “My institute has brand new equipment that no one was using, so I offered to set up the lab,” says Mutale. “I intend to determine the sources of contamination and the defective stages in the farmers’ processing methods in order to help improve their produce and increase their incomes.”
Passionate about helping the poor, as a student Mutale volunteered for a six-month training course at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, with hopes of getting into medical school.
My institute has brand new equipment that no one was using, so I offered to set up the lab,” says Mutale. “I intend to determine the sources of contamination and the defective stages in the farmers’ processing methods in order to help improve their produce and increase their incomes.
Field of Research
Analysis of hydrogen cyanide and identification of aflatoxin contamination sources and defective stages in cassava processing methods to advise cassava farmers appropriately on production improvements.
Zambian Girls Gain Fresh Perspectives on Agricultural Science
Date: April 12, 2021
Zambian Girls Gain Fresh Perspectives on Agricultural Science
Date: April 4, 2016
AWARD Fellow Nkumbu Mutwale, a research officer at the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute, recently spoke to some 250 female students at Kabunda Girls Secondary School in Mansa, Zambia, a poor rural area where people earn their livelihoods through fishing and cassava cultivation. Early marriages are common here and education is not always valued.