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WACCI Enrolls 9th Cohort of PhD Students

The students in a group photograph with management and staff of WACCI

 

A three-day orientation programme has been held for the 2016 doctoral students enrolled on the PhD Plant Breeding Programme of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI). The 2016 graduate students, who are so far, the largest cohort enrolled on the programme, are from 9 African countries namely Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Malawi, Togo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia and Burkina Faso.  They will undertake a year of course work which involves both credit accumulating courses and modular courses delivered by international experts at the University of Ghana.  In line with the requirements, the students after the completion of their first year, will return to their home research institutions for three years to conduct their thesis research.  They will then return to WACCI in the last six months of the final year to complete and submit their theses.

 

The Director of WACCI giving his welcome address

 

In his welcome address, the Director of the Centre, Prof. Eric Danquah lauded WACCI’s funding institutions for providing the needed resources to train the next generation of plant breeders in Africa. He further urged the students to take their training at WACCI seriously and develop concept notes on their proposed thesis topics to enable them win grants to support their research. He added that, the students were now ambassadors of the Centre and should strive for excellence.  Speakers for the three-day orientation were Prof. Kwadwo Ofori, Dean, School of Graduate Studies, Dr. Charles Asante, Coordinator, English Proficiency Unit, Language Centre, Mrs. Jocelene Buckman, Head of Guidance, Counseling and Placement Centre and Mr. Amadu Salifu, Head of Security.

 

Present at the opening ceremony were Prof. P.B. Tongoona, Deputy Director, WACCI, Dr. Daniel Dzidzienyo, Lecturer, Biotechnology Centre and Coordinator for Research, Anglophone Africa, Dr. Agyemang Danquah, Lecturer, Department of Crop Science & Coordinator, Curriculum Development and Teaching Programmes, WACCI, Dr. John Eleblu, Lecturer, Biotechnology Centre & Coordinator for Research, Francophone Africa, WACCI, Dr. Beatrice Ifie, Maize Breeder, WACCI, Mrs. Jennifer Saint Acquaye, Programme Manager, Mr. Kwadwo Owusu Afrifa, Finance Officer, and Mr. Edward Salakpi, ICT Officer all of WACCI.

 

The West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) was established in 2007 as a partnership between the University of Ghana and Cornell University with initial funding from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to train plant breeders, at the PhD level, with expertise to improve the indigenous crops that feed the people of the sub-region. Since inception, the Centre has enrolled 98 PhD students from 15 African countries and graduated 28 students from three cohorts. The Centre has also attracted over USD 26 million from multiple donors for the training of the next generation of Plant Breeders for Africa.