Ten students from Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, and Zimbabwe have joined the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) as the Centre’s 8th cohort of MPhil, Seed Science and Technology programme (MPhil SST) students for the 2022/2023 academic year. Nine of the ten students are supported with funds from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and the World Bank Africa Centre of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE Impact) project.
Welcoming the students at an orientation session, the Director of WACCI, Prof. Eric Danquah expressed gratitude for the support of the DAAD since the inception of ACE Impact project in 2015. He encouraged the students to make the best of their time at the Centre. He also admonished the students to work hard and become game changers and history makers in Africa’s seed sector.
Prof. Danquah used the occasion to call on national leaders and policy makers to make the necessary investments for developing the talents needed for agricultural transformation to safeguard the future of the continent.
Since inception of the MPhil SST programme in 2015, the Centre has enrolled 88 students from 10 African countries. Students enrolled in the innovative two-year programme undertake nine months of coursework at the University of Ghana and proceed to a research institution or private seed company, locally or abroad for up to three-month experiential attachment to develop skills in seed technology. The students undertake theses research in the second year of the programme.