Afam I. O. Jideani
Afam is a professor of Food Science and Technology (FST) at the University of Venda, South Africa. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Leeds, UK in 1994. He became full professor in 1999 before taking up the role of Director of Research and Development at the National Food Technology Research Centre Botswana (2006). He has supervised and mentored a number of postgraduate students, three of whom are now professors in the field. Research in FST has focused on plant foods. He has over 130 publications in scientific journals, book, book chapters and conference proceedings. He is the leader of the Plant Food Processing for Bio-economy research group. The group’s research focuses on processing and technology of plant foods in the following but not exhaustive areas: survey of plant-based indigenous foods and knowledge systems, value addition to indigenous plant based foods for food security, functional food ingredients in food systems and food biotechnology. He is a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology. He is a professional member of the following scientific bodies: (i) South African (SA) Association of Food Technologists, (ii) American Association of Cereal Chemists International, (iii) Institute of Food Technologists and (iv) the ISEKI Food Association (IFA), the SA country representative of IFA.