Laouali Mahamane Nasser was born in Maradi in the southern part of Niger. His father is the Chief of Jiratawa, a village community with a wide irrigated area where people grow cereals and vegetables.
Laouali had his primary
and secondary school in Maradi after which he started medical studies at Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey, Niger. In the same year however, he got a scholarship to study Agricultural Studies in Algeria. For 5 years, Laouali studied for an MSc in Crop Science at the IBN Khaldoun University of Tiaret and specialised in plant breeding. He focused on the mechanism of adaptation to the water deficiency of hard wheat.
Back in his country, Laouali started work at the National Institute for Agronomic Research of Maradi as a Sorghum Breeder Assistant. He was involved in keeping the national collections of sorghum, crossing and selecting varieties for high yielding productivity. He was also involved in producing improved seeds that are sold to farmers.
“I intend to become a maize breeder particularly because of the low production of the crop in my Country. Maize is increasingly being consumed by households in Niger. It is however not widely cultivated because of low rainfall. As a result of this, maize is imported from Nigeria. I am interested in studying mechanisms of adaptation of maize for drought resistance for my PhD research. I believe this will contribute to obtaining varieties that are more adapted to Nigerien climate.”