The Founding Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, has been re-appointed as Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia (UWA), Institute of Agriculture for an additional three-year period from December 1, 2021, to November 30, 2024. Professor Danquah was first appointed to this role as Adjunct Professor at UWA in 2019. The renewal of his appointment is a formal recognition of his significant contribution to the work and activities of the University. With this appointment, Prof. Danquah has access to the Office of Research Enterprise at UWA to help support and encourage research and research training activities.
Prof. Eric Danquah is a Professor of Plant Genetics at the Department of Crop Science of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana. He is a recipient of the University of Ghana Distinguished Award for Meritorious Service, 2013, a member of the IAEA’s Standing Advisory Group on Nuclear Applications, the 2018 Laureate, Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for Agriculture and Life Sciences (GCHERA) World Agriculture Prize and the President of the African Plant Breeders Association. He served as the Director of the Biotechnology Centre, University of Ghana from 2014 - 2019. He is a former Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, Ghana and a current member of the Board of Directors, Agricultural Development Bank, Ghana
Professor Danquah has attracted over US$ 40 million to the University of Ghana for research and development projects, including the US$8 million World Bank Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) Project, the ACE Impact grant of US$ 5.5 million as Principal Investigator and a competitive research grant of US$ 1 million as Principal Investigator from the African Union Commission and European Union for research on food and nutrition security in some selected crops. He has 143 refereed journal articles, 4 books, a book chapter and over 40 other publications to his credit. His WACCI project has enrolled 149 PhD students in Plant Breeding from 19 African countries and graduated 95 students who are leading plant breeding programmes in National Agricultural Research Institutions in Africa. He has also introduced a new Masters programme in Seed Science and Technology, which has attracted 65 students in five years. Three improved maize hybrids which yield between 9-11 t/ha have been released by WACCI for commercialization in Ghana under his leadership. Also in 2021, three tomato hybrids have been released for commercialization under his visionary leadership. These varieties are high yielding and are expected to increase productivity on farmers’ fields. He has a passion for and a commitment to appropriate organizational functioning and the use of science for development and has mentored many young academics.
WACCI congratulates Prof. Danquah on his re-appointment.