Dr. Olum Solomon

Senior Lecturer

Solomon Olum holds a PhD in Bioscience Engineering, specializing in Food Science and Nutrition from Ghent University in Belgium. He is also a holder of the degree of Master of Science in Applied Human Nutrition and Bachelor of Agriculture from Makerere and Gulu Universities, respectively. He is a Lecturer in the department of Food Science and Postharvest Technology and he is currently the Acting Head of the Department.

Dr. Olum has a broad range of research interests in Food and Nutrition Sciences, including nutritious food product development and analysis, novel food acceptability, consumer behavior, agri-food value chain analysis & food loss, nutrition assessment and monitoring. He has profound interest in understanding how multiple forms of disadvantage (malnutrition, diet inadequacies, poverty and others) affect the wellbeing of communities in developing countries. He has developed keen interest in analyzing stakeholders’ uptake of novel foods and food technologies such as biofortification, fortification, insect-based foods and plant foods such as “plant milk”.

Dr. Olum has published his work in international peer-reviewed scientific journals and participated in several national and international conferences and workshops. According to google scholar, Solomon’s scientific work has been cited more than 780 times with h-index of 8 (June 2023). To date, he has supervised more than 15 Master students to completion and is currently supervising 3 PhD students and several Master students. In addition, Solomon is a Principal Investigator of 2 collaborative research projects at Gulu University and is a team member of several other projects.

Dr. Olum Solomon
Senior Lecturer | Head of Department
Food Science and Postharvest Technology
+256779 486193 | s.olum@gu.ac.ug

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Research Interests

Project Implementation

2023– 2026: Project Lead (PI, Gulu University) of Norwegian Research Council funded project, “ECOFOOD: Creating Inclusive and Sustainable Food Systems in Refugee Hosting Contexts in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).” Partners include RURALIS- Institute for rural and regional research (Norway), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) -Tanzania, and Gulu University.

2022 – 2023: Project Lead (Coordinator, Gulu University) of a 50, 000 USD pilot project, “Application of millet-sesame-soy-OFSP composite to address chronic and micronutrient malnutrition among children in the first 1000 days of life,” funded by Response Innovation Lab & Save the Children under the Local Innovations for Nutrition Solution (LINS) project.

2022- 2026: Project Lead (PI, Gulu University) “Partnership for Education in Refugee-Host Contexts: Joint learning towards food security and sustainable development in Uganda,” funded by Norwegian Agency for International Cooperation and Quality Enhancement in Higher Education (DIKU), Norway. Partners include: Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Makerere University, Center for African Research and Gulu University.

2021- 2026: Team Member in the 1.3-million Euro EU funded project, “Mobility to Train Agribusiness and Food Systems Scientists for African Agriculture (TAFSA),” funded by European Union’s Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Programme and involving 5 African Universities.

Publications

Kolliesuah, N.P., Olum, S. & Ongeng, D. Status of household dietary diversity and associated factors among rural and urban households of Northern Uganda. BMC Nutr 9, 83 (2023).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-023-00739-4

Aparo, N. O., Olum, S., Atimango, A. O., Odongo, W., Aloka, B., Ongeng, D., … & De Steur, H. (2023). Farmers’ Intention to Adopt Agronomic Biofortification: The Case of Iodine Biofortified Vegetables in Uganda. Horticulturae, 9(3), 401.
https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9030401

Adoko, M. C., Olum, S., Elolu, S., & Ongeng, D. (2023). Addition of Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato and Iron-Rich Beans Improves Sensory, Nutritional and Physical Properties but Reduces Microbial Shelf Life of Cassava-Based Pancake (Kabalagala) Designed for Children 2-5 Years Old. Journal of Culinary Science & Technology, 21(2), 173-197.

Olum, S., Gellynck, X., Wesana, J., Odongo, W., Aparo, N. O., Aloka, B., … & De Steur, H. (2021). Economic feasibility of iodine agronomic biofortification: a projective analysis with Ugandan vegetable farmers. Sustainability, 13(19), 10608.

Olum, S., Wesana, J., Mawadri, J., Nakiranda, J. K., & Odongo, W. (2021). Insects as food: Illuminating the food neophobia and socio-cultural dynamics of insect consumption in Uganda. International Journal of Tropical Insect Science, 41, 1-10.

Dirac, M. A., Safiri, S., Tsoi, D., Adedoyin, R. A., Afshin, A., Akhlaghi, N., …Olum, S.,.. & Naghavi, M. (2020). The global, regional, and national burden of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease in 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 5(6), 561-581.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(19)30408-X

Olum, S., Gellynck, X., Juvinal, J., Ongeng, D., & De Steur, H. (2020). Farmers’ adoption of agricultural innovations: A systematic review on willingness to pay studies. Outlook on Agriculture, 49(3), 187-203.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0030727019879453

Olum, S., Wesana, J., Odongo, W., Mogendi, J., Okello, C., Webale, D., … & De Steur, H. (2020). Agronomic biofortification from a stakeholder’s viewpoint: evidence from studies on iodine‐enriched foods in Uganda. In Vitamins and minerals biofortification of edible plants, 163-189.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119511144.ch8

Burstein, R., Henry, N. J., Collison, M. L., Marczak, L. B., Sligar, A., Watson, S., Olum, S., … & Filip, I. (2019). Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017. Nature, 574(7778), 353-358.

Frank, T. D., Carter, A., Jahagirdar, D., Biehl, M. H., Douwes-Schultz, D., Larson, S. L., Olum, S., … & Hosseinzadeh, M. (2019). Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and mortality of HIV, 1980–2017, and forecasts to 2030, for 195 countries and territories: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017. The lancet HIV, 6(12), e831-e859.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-3018(19)30196-1

Olum, S., Ongeng, D., Tumuhimbise, G. A., Hennessy, M. J., Okello-Uma, I., & Taylor, D. (2018). Understanding intra-community disparity in food and nutrition security in a generally food insecure part of eastern Africa. African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 18(2), 13317-13337.
https://doi.org/10.18697/ajfand.82.17150

Olum, S., Okello-Uma, I., Tumuhimbise, G. A., Taylor, D., & Ongeng, D. (2017). The Relationship between Cultural Norms and Food Security in the Karamoja Sub-Region of Uganda. Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, 5(6), 427-435

Nihimbazwe, O., Tuyizere, J. D., Olum, S., & Ongeng, D. Trends in iodine nutrition in Uganda since the inception of the Universal Salt Iodization programme. RUFORUM Working Document Series (ISSN 1607-9345), 2021, No. 19 (1):511-517.
http://repository.ruforum.org

Publications

Nelson Papi Kolliesuah, Solomon Olum & Duncan Ongeng . (2023) . Status of household dietary diversity and associated factors among rural and urban households of Northern Uganda . Available at: https://bmcnutr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40795-023-00739-4
by Nathaline Onek Aparo 1,2,*,†ORCID,Solomon Olum 3,†ORCID,Alice Onek Atimango 1,2,Walter Odongo 2ORCID,Bonny Aloka 4ORCID,Duncan Ongeng 3,Xavier Gellynck 1 andHans De Steur . (2023) . Farmers’ Intention to Adopt Agronomic Biofortification: The Case of Iodine Biofortified Vegetables in Uganda . Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/deref/https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.3390%2Fhorticulturae9030401
by Solomon Olum 1,2ORCID,Xavier Gellynck 2,Joshua Wesana 2,3ORCID,Walter Odongo 4ORCID,Nathaline Onek Aparo 2,4ORCID,Bonny Aloka 5,Duncan Ongeng 1 andHans De Steur 2,* . (2021) . Economic Feasibility of Iodine Agronomic Biofortification: A Projective Analysis with Ugandan Vegetable Farmers
Melas Cayrol Adoko, Solomon Olum, Samuel Elolu & Duncan Ongen . (2021) . Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found athttps://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=wcsc20Journal of Culinary Science & TechnologyISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wcsc20Addition of Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato andIron-Rich Beans Improves Sensory, Nutritionaland Physical Properties But Reduces MicrobialShelf Life of Cassava-Based Pancake (Kabalagala)Designed for Children 2-5 Years Old . Journal of Culinary Science & Technology
Solomon Olum, Joshua Wesana, Justine Mawadri, Joanitar Kizza Nakiranda & Walter Odongo . (2020) . Insects as food: Illuminating the food neophobia and socio-cultural dynamics of insect consumption in Uganda . International Journal of Tropical Insect Science , 41, pp. 1-10
. (2020) . Agronomic iodine biofortification in Uganda : stakeholder perceptions, economic value and intention to adopt
Solomon Olum, Joshua Wesana, Walter Odongo, Joseph Mogendi, Collins Okello, Dominic Webale, Anselimo Makokha, Duncan Ongeng, Xavier Gellynck, Hans De Steur . (2020) . Agronomic Biofortification from a Stakeholder’s Viewpoint: Evidence from Studies on Iodine-Enriched Foods in Uganda
Dirac.M.A., Safiri.S., Tsoi.D., Adedoyin.R., Afshin.A., Alahbad.F., Almulhim.M.A., Amini.S., Ausloos.F., Bacha.U., Banach.M., Bhagavathula.A., Bijani.A., Biondi.A., Borzì.A.M., Colombara.D., Dagnew.B., Daryan.A., ...., Hay.S.I., . (2020) . The global, regional, and national burden of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease in 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 , pp. 561-581
Joe Ojok, Peter Omara, Emmanuel Opolot, Walter Odongo, Solomon Olum, Du Laing Gijs, Xavier Gellynck, Hans De Steur and Duncan Ongeng . (2019) . Iodine Agronomic Biofortification of Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) and Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) Is Effective under Farmer Field Conditions
Olum S, Ongeng D, Tumuhimbise GA, Hennessy MJ, Okello-Uma I and D Taylor . (2018) . Understanding Intra-Community Disparity in Food and Nutrition Security in A Generally Food Insecure Part of Eastern Africa . African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 18(2)
Solomon Olum, Ipolto Okello-Uma, Gaston A. Tumuhimbise, David Taylor, Duncan Ongeng . (2017) . The Relationship between Cultural Norms and Food Security in the Karamoja Sub-Region of Uganda . Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, 5(6), pp. 427-435

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