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WACCI hosts a Workshop on Demand-Led Plant Breeding for Emerging Markets in Africa

The West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) at the University of Ghana, Legon in collaboration with the Alliance for Agricultural R&D for Food Security (comprised of the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA), the Australian International Food Security Research Centre of the Australian International Agricultural Research Centre (AIFSRC/ACIAR), Crawford Fund and the University of Queensland) have organized a workshop on demand-led plant variety design at the Erata Hotel, Ghana from April 27 - 29, 2015. The main aim of the workshop was for participants to review the content of the training manual being developed for the module on demand-led approaches in plant breeding. Fourteen scientists from several African universities, regional and international organizations participated in the workshop.

The Director of WACCI, Prof. Eric Y. Danquah, in his welcome address, commended the team of scientists for the commitment to developing the manual. He said that the training manual, when ready, will be very informative in addressing the innovative market-driven approaches of plant variety designs and will be useful for the training of plant breeders without borders to sustain farmers, processors and consumers and all others in the agricultural value chain.

Over the three days, the participants reviewed the contents of six units of the module, namely:

  1. Introduction to demand-led approaches
  2. Understanding clients’ needs
  3. Variety design and setting standards
  4. Variety development: Stage plan, timelines, and decision-making
  5. Visioning and foresight for setting breeding goals
  6. Monitoring, evaluation and learning

The module when fully developed will be introduced into plant breeding curriculum in African universities. The training manual will also be developed into a book and will be available for continuing professional development of plant breeders and managers across Africa.

 

Participants of the Demand-Led Plant Breeding workshop in a group photograph

 

The participants at the workshop included: Prof Eric Y. Danquah - Director, WACCI, Prof. Pangirayi Tongoona - Deputy Director & Plant Breeder, WACCI, Dr. Beatrice Elohor Ifie - Plant Breeder, WACCI, Dr. Agyemang Danquah - Coordinator for Teaching Programmes, also of WACCI. Prof. Hussein Shimelis - Professor of Plant Breeding, African Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Prof. Paul Kimani - Professor of Plant Breeding, University of Nairobi, Prof. Gabrielle Persley - Senior Advisor to the Director General of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) , Dr. Nasser Yao - Plant Molecular Breeder, BecA-ILRI Hu, Dr. Ivan Rwomushana - Programme Manager for Staple Crops Programme, ASACERA, Dr. Jean Claude Rubyogo - Seed Systems Specialist, CIAT-Malawi, Dr. Rowland Chirwa - Regional Bean Breeder, Uganda, Dr. Thomas Odong - Lecturer, Makerere University, Dr. Vivienne Anthony - Senior Scientific Advisor, Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) and Dr. Heather Merk - Breeding Academy Program Lead, Syngenta Company also graced the occasion with their presence.