Prof. John Derera, Senior Director of Plant Breeding and Pre-Breeding at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), recently paid a working visit to the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) to explore potential areas of collaboration between WACCI and the CGIAR.
Dr. John Eleblu, Coordinator of Research for Francophone Africa at WACCI, welcomed Prof. Derera to the Centre and provided an overview of WACCI’s operations over the past 16 years. He noted that despite the progress made, brain drain remains a major challenge to progress in agricultural development and called for strategic initiatives to develop talent in Africa for Africa.
Dr. John Elebu
Prof. Pangirayi Tongoona, Associate Director of Breeding Programmes at WACCI attributed the continent's brain drain issue to the lack of investment from African governments in research institutions. He emphasized the need for funding to help retain African scientists.
Prof. John Derera presented on the CAPSHA Plant Breeding Leadership Program, a new initiative by CGIAR that could be beneficial for WACCI. He revealed that the program's goal is to develop a continual stream of talented plant breeding professionals supporting NARES-CGIAR breeding networks across crops and global geographies. His presentation also covered the objectives, outcomes, target participants, and curriculum of the program.
Prof. John Derera
Dr. Eleblu called for a strategic partnership between the CGIAR and NARES for split-site training of PhD students from WACCI, including coursework at WACCI and research work at NARES.
