News Highlights

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.

The West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, in collaboration with Zhejiang University, China, will host a research seminar on at 9 a.m. on Thursday, August 21, 2025, at WACCI. The event forms part of the China–Africa Partnership Institute Project, a joint initiative between the two institutions.

The delegation from Zhejiang University will be led by Prof. Qingyao Shu, Professor of Breeding and Biotechnology at the College of Agriculture and Biotechnology (CAB), Zhejiang University.

The West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Alexander Asante-Atuobi as Team Lead, Finance.

Prof. Eric Danquah, Founding Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), has urged the government to invest in universities, emphasising that the country cannot achieve sustainable development without strong academic and research institutions.

Fifteen students from the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) graduated from the University of Ghana on July 25, 2025, during a ceremony held at the Great Hall of the University. The graduating class included three PhD students and twelve MPhil students.

The West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, hosted a mentorship seminar aimed at deepening the understanding of formal and effective mentoring practices and to support the co-development of a framework for structured mentorship for students and staff at the Centre. 

The West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana commemorated the Day of Scientific Renaissance of Africa (DSRA) with a research symposium themed “Seed to Impact – Highlighting the Journey from Seed Funding to Tangible Outcomes.” The event highlighted groundbreaking research by WACCI faculty and celebrated the role of scientific research and innovation in advancing agriculture across Africa

Dr. Mavis Owusuaa Osei-Wusu, Lecturer and Team Lead, Rice Improvement Programme at the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, is co-leading a new collaborative research project with Professor Uta Paszkowski of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge.