News Highlights

The Founding Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) and Chair of the Governing Board of the Ghana National Research Fund (GNRF), Prof. Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, has urged Ghana to transform its food systems through science and innovation.

He made the call during his keynote address, themed “From Genes to Generations: Rethinking Food Systems for a Sustainable Africa,” at Ho Technical University (HTU) during the Food, Agriculture, Technology and Sustainability Conference.

Prof. Eric Danquah, Founding Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, has been recognised as one of Ghana’s 100 Most Influential People at the Ghana 100 Most Influential People Awards (MIPA), organised by the Business Executive Group.

The award ceremony, held on November 28, 2025, at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC), sought to honour individuals whose work has demonstrated excellence, innovation and contributed to Ghana’s development.

Dr. Pearl Abu, Team Lead of the Maize Breeding Programme at the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, has been awarded the UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea Fellowship Programme for Young Women Scientists in Africa 2024.

Ghana must strategically invest in science and research to secure its long-term development, Prof. Eric Yirenkyi Danquah has said. Speaking at the 10th Research Awards and Grants (RAG) Ceremony of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Prof. Danquah, Chair of the Ghana National Research Fund (GNRF) and Founding Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), warned that without sustained funding, the country risks falling behind in innovation and competitiveness.

Prof. Eric Y. Danquah, Founding Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana has been elected as a Fellow of The African Academy of Sciences (AAS).

The announcement of the 2025 AAS Fellowship cohort was made during the Science Forum South Africa 2025, following a highly competitive and rigorous selection process conducted by the AAS Governing Council.

Prof. Sanatu Mustapha Alidu, an alumna of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, has led a team of researchers at the University for Development Studies (UDS), Nyankpala Campus, to develop six new climate-smart, drought-tolerant cowpea varieties. This marks the first crop varieties ever released by UDS since its establishment over 30 years.

The African Plant Breeders Association (APBA) recently conferred a Meritorious Service Award on renowned Crop Scientist and 2022 Africa Food Prize Laureate, Prof. Eric Y. Danquah, Founding Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) at the University of Ghana.

The award, according to the Association, recognises Prof. Danquah’s exceptional leadership and outstanding contribution to the establishment and growth of the APBA. It also acknowledges his pioneering efforts in championing agricultural innovation and advancing plant breeding science across Africa.

Ms. Omotola Dorcas Olaoye, a PhD candidate at theWest Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, has been awarded the prestigious National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB)–African Plant Breeders Association (APBA) Norman Borlaug Awardfor outstanding PhD students in Africa.

The award was presented at the 4th APBA Conference, held at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, where the International Borlaug Scholars NAPB–APBA Mentoring Programme was officially launched.

Founding Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) at the University of Ghana, Prof. Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, is calling on the global community to support Africa’s scientific renaissance through reparative investment.

The 2022 Africa Food Prize Laureate says such reparative investment should include debt cancellation for higher-education loans, endowments for African universities, and the creation of an African Talent Fund for Plant Breeding.

Three years after the Founding Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) at the University of Ghana, Professor Eric Danquah, won the 2022 Africa Food Prize, a former student of the Centre has now taken the 2025 honour.

At the 2025 Africa Food Systems Forum in Dakar, Senegal, the Africa Food Prize Committee announced that WACCI alumna and founder of GoSeed Ltd in Nigeria, Dr. Mercy Elohor Diebiru-Ojo, and Professor Mary Abukutsa Onyango of Kenya had been named joint winners of the 2025 Africa Food Prize.