Eric Yirenkyi Danquah BSc. (UG), MPhil, PhD (Cantab) FCPS, FCCS
West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (www.wacci.edu.gh)
University of Ghana, PMB LG 30, Legon, Ghana
Tel: +233 7079426 (Office), Cell: +233 244 632088
Email: edanquah@wacci.ug.edu.gh, Twitter: @edanquah240
Eric Yirenkyi 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, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, UG Meritorious Award for Outstanding Services, 2021, and the 2022 Africa Food Prize Laureate. Danquah was instrumental in laying the groundwork for the African Plant Breeders Association (APBA), serving as its first president from 2019 to 2023. In 2023, and 2024, Reputation Poll International recognized him as one of the 100 most Reputable Africans. The African Genius Awards also honored him with an Outstanding African Achiever Award in 2023. He serves on the Science and Impact Advisory Group of the UK - CGIAR Centre. He received the Outstanding Agricultural Research Leadership Personality of the Year award from the Ghana Chamber of Agribusiness in 2023. He also won the International Agribusiness Leadership Personality of the Year (2019) award at the 2nd Ghana Agribusiness Excellence and Leadership Awards from the Ghana Chamber of Agribusiness. He is an Adjunct Professor at Cornell University, USA, the University of Western Australia and Murdoch University, Australia. He was a Visiting Scientist at the BBSRC-Long Ashton Research Institute, UK from 2000 - 2001. Currently, he serves as the Founding Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement, established in the University in 2007 with funding from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to train a new generation of plant breeders to develop improved varieties of the staple crops of West and Central Africa. He served as the Director of the Biotechnology Centre, University of Ghana from 2014 - 2019. He was appointed Lecturer in the Department of Crop Science, University of Ghana in February 1994. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2001, Associate Professor in 2004 and Full Professor in 2007. He has served the University of Ghana in several capacities. He was Senior Tutor of Legon Hall from 2002 - 2005, Head of Department of Crop Science from 2005 - 2006 and Dean of International Programmes from 2006 - 2009. He was the Assessor for Sciences on the Appointments Board of the University of Ghana from 2012 - 2016 and a member of the Business and Executive Committee for about 10 years. He has sat on the Finance and Estimates Committees and served on several ad hoc committees at the University. He is a former Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa, Ghana and founder of the Eric Danquah Foundation, established to unearth and accelerate the development of talent through mentoring for the future of genetic innovation in agriculture in Africa.
Danquah's research interests lie in identifying beneficial genes/traits to enhance staple crops across Africa. He has consulted for the Science Council of the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and participated in over 140 international meetings in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and the United Kingdom. In 2008, he served on a six-member international panel that reviewed the International Crops Research Centre for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). He was a member of the IFAD International Review Team that evaluated the 10 million US dollar Root and Tuber Improvement Programme in Ghana in 2003. He was also a member of the international peer-review committee of the Volkswagen Foundation’s Africa initiative on “Resources, their dynamics and sustainability - Capacity Development and Comparative and Integrative Approaches” in 2009 and 2010 and a member of the Steering and Advisory Committee of the CGIAR Dryland Cereals research project led by ICRISAT, 2014 - 2017. He served as Africa’s representative on the Maize Genetics Executive Committee from 2019-2021. He is a member of the International Advisory Committee, Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement, Cornell University, USA, and a member of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the Bill and Melinda Gates-funded AfricaYam Project based at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Danquah has attracted about US$ 40 million to the University of Ghana for research and development projects, including US$ 13.5 million from the World Bank Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) Project and a competitive research grant of US$ 1 million from the African Union Commission for research on food and nutrition security in some staple crops of West Africa. He has facilitated the establishment of several link programmes some of which have opened opportunities for PhD placements for UG students in world-class universities. He was instrumental in securing funding for the University of Ghana Water Augmentation Programme in the mid-2000s. He has 168 refereed journal articles, 4 books and several other publications to his credit. His WACCI project has enrolled 160 PhD students in Plant Breeding from 19 African counties and graduated 111 students who are leading plant breeding programmes in National and International Agricultural Research Institutions in Africa. He has also introduced a new master’s programme in Seed Science and Technology, which has attracted 69 students in five years and launched a Kofi Annan Enterprise Hub for Agricultural Innovation (KAEHAI) to empower the youth for agribusiness start-ups. Three improved maize hybrids which yield between 9-11 t/ha and three hybrid tomato varieties which yield 40-52 t/ha have been released by WACCI for commercialization in Ghana under his leadership. He serves on the Independent Advisory Committee of the Centre of African Leaders in Agriculture (CALA), AGRA, Kenya. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Federation of Young Farmers, Ghana and is the Chairman of the Advisory and Oversight Board of the Samira Empowerment & Humanitarian Projects, Ghana. He is a Fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth and Cambridge Philosophical Societies. He has a passion for and a commitment to appropriate organisational functioning and the use of science for development and has mentored many young academics.
He holds a BSc. degree in Agriculture (Crop Science) from the University of Ghana, and an MPhil degree in Plant Breeding and a PhD in Genetics from the University of Cambridge, UK.