Who we are

The West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) is a partnership between the University of Ghana (UG) and Cornell University, USA that was established in June 2007 with funding from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) at the University of Ghana to train Plant Breeders in Africa working on the improvement of African crops train in local environments for farmers in Africa.  The Centre has expanded its scope to train Seed Scientists in Africa.

What we do

WACCI is training Plant Breeders and Seed Scientists for the sub-region on classical plant breeding and complementary molecular biology technologies needed for efficient development of superior and adaptable crops. WACCI is one institution among many that are working towards eradicating food insecurity in the sub-region through the training of the people needed to breed and to improve access to high quality seeds to improve food security crops for the rural farmers who currently cultivate unimproved low yielding varieties. WACCI is contributing the needed human resources for the strengthening breeding and seed science programmes of the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) in SSA.                                                                           

News Highlights

WACCI

By Professor Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, PhD Cantab
Founding Director, West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana
Africa Food Prize Laureate, 2022 | GCHERA World Agriculture Prize Laureate, 2018
Inaugural President, African Plant Breeders Association (APBA), 2019 - 2023

 

hunger day

By Professor Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, PhD Cantab
Founding Director, West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana
Africa Food Prize Laureate, 2022 | GCHERA World Agriculture Prize Laureate, 2018
Inaugural President, African Plant Breeders Association (APBA)

 

Evans Larby

Mr. Evans Larbi, an alumnus of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, and Chief Executive Officer of Beit Farms Ghana, has been honoured with the Youth in Agriculture Award at the 2025 Millennium Excellence Awards.

270

Student Population

176

Alumni

20

Countries

Events

Apr 12

Venue: Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

Time: 9:00am