Australian yams: nutritional food of the future

A collaboration between The University of Queensland (UQ) and the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji community of Far North Queensland is exploring future uses of Australian yams — and it’s taken researchers all the way to Africa.

The project began when Nigerian-born UQ PhD candidate Samson Olumide Fawale invited the university’s Professor Yasmina Sultanbawa and Yidinji community members Tracy and Roy Gray to join him on a visit to Nigeria’s International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of yams, and Fawale saw an opportunity for Australia to learn from six decades of research and expertise.

At UQ’s Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, Fawale’s work has identified the nutritional composition of the Australian yams, which are edible roots that First Nations communities have harvested for generations.

“Travelling to Nigeria to see and learn what IITA has done in the area of yam breeding and production was an opportunity to learn about the different techniques of growing yams, and to understand the business side from a country where yams are a staple food,” Fawale said.

The collaboration with IITA will provide information that will help adapt proven techniques in breeding, propagation and soil management to Australian conditions, improving both yield and nutrition while supporting Indigenous food sovereignty.

Australian harvests

The visit has already inspired local action. Back home near Cairns, Tracy and Roy Gray have begun planting hundreds of yam varieties, many descended from crops their fathers once grew.

“Our trip to Nigeria ignited a fire in us,” says Tracy. “While we are reviving our traditional languages and culture, we want to revive interest in our traditional food – the yam. We can combine ancient knowledge with the science on its nutritional benefits.”

Their goal is to create a sustainable local food business and reignite interest in a traditional food that connects generations.

Future research

The Yidinji project is just a start, with plans to expand the Australian program through a collaborative research partnership with IITA.

“We would like to work with food scientists, breeders and end users, as well as investigate other root and tuber crops native to Australia,” Fawale said.

“We need to know what unique traits Australian yams have and whether Nigerian germplasm, or germplasm from other parts of the Pacific, could be successful here and how we could help each other.”

For more information visit the University of Queensland website here.