Dr. Theresa Ankamah-Yeboah is passionate about research and teaching in the field of genetics and plant breeding. She obtained her master’s and PhD degrees from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, before returning to her home country Ghana in December 2020 to apply her expertise. While her primary expertise initially focused on seed quality-related traits in barley, Dr. Ankamah-Yeboah has since broadened her research interests to include agronomic “climate-smart” traits in crop plants, aligning her work with Ghana’s sustainable development goals. She is committed to enhancing the quality and adaptation of essential food crops, particularly sorghum, through genomics-assisted breeding methods. Her current research is centred on the development and deployment of high-yielding sorghum varieties tailored for smallholder farmers, ultimately leading to increased productivity in the field.

Sorghum, a resilient cereal capable of thriving on marginal soils and resistant to changing climates, stands as a crucial agricultural crop and a primary food source for millions worldwide. Cultivation of sorghum provides economic opportunities for small-holder farmers, particularly in regions where it is a staple crop by serving as their source of income and livelihood improvement. In Ghana, it is the third most important staple cereal, cultivated across the Savannah agro-ecological zones, covering approximately 41% of the total land area. Sorghum is a versatile grain that can be consumed as a whole grain or processed into flour for baking or used in the brewery industry. Its nutritional value ranges from it serving as a source of essential nutrients like protein and vitamin B to serving as an alternate gluten-free cereal.

Over the past decade, there has been a substantial increase in demand for sorghum in Ghana, driven by both domestic consumption and the brewery industry. However, local production struggles to meet this heightened demand, mainly due to smallholder farmers grappling with constraints such as the use of low-yielding varieties. The average yield of sorghum in Ghana hovers around 1 to 2 tons per hectare, with many farmers obtaining yields less than 1 ton per hectare. This contrasts with yields of 6-8 tons per hectare readily achievable in developed countries. In 2022, Ghana’s total sorghum production was 345,000 tonnes, significantly lower than the global production of over 60 million tonnes. The current surge by commercial brewery companies in the use of sorghum to promote sustainability and reduce import dependencies for beer production also underscores the urgent need to enhance sorghum production in Ghana. Brewery demand in the country is currently estimated at 2,500 tonnes per year, with the potential to reach up to 10,000 tonnes per year.

Recognizing the necessity for the development of high-yielding sorghum varieties while maintaining or improving preferred traits for both farmers and consumers, Dr. Ankamah-Yeboah, as a researcher at the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement, is actively engaged in developing demand-driven sorghum varieties. She employs accelerated breeding methods to expedite the breeding process, as traditional approaches are laborious and can take up to 10 to 12 generations.

Dr. Ankamah-Yeboah believes that identifying the most effective breeding tools to enhance time and cost-effectiveness for breeding sorghum with improved traits is crucial. By adopting modern breeding methods and integrating advanced tools, technologies, and methods into sorghum breeding programs, she aims to accelerate genetic gain, significantly reducing breeding years and ensuring food security in the face of climate change. While adaptation to climate change requires a combination of policies and strategic innovations, she emphasizes the importance of identifying effective breeding tools to enhance the efficiency of breeding climate-smart sorghum varieties and she is open to collaborations.