Contributing to fill a critical need for trained plant breeders in Africa, the UC Davis African Plant Breeding AcademySM started its fourth class of students with a session in Nairobi, Kenya, November 25 – December 8, 2018.  The program is organized in collaboration with The African Union New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency and the African Orphan Crops Consortium.   Over the next thirteen months, this class will spend more than 300 hours in classes, workshops and the field, training to complete this premium professional certification program.

The fourth class of the UC Davis African Plant Breeding Academy (pictured above) consists of 36 breeders, half of whom are women, representing 23 African nations:

• Ahmed Abdelmoghny Abdelgaky, Egypt;
• Mizan Tesfay Abraha, Ethiopia;
• Hubert Adoukonou Awo Sagbadja, Benin;
• Eric Agoyi, Benin;
• Abiola Amao, Nigeria;
• Assefa  Amelework Beyene, South Africa;
• Matilda Bissah, Ghana;
• Seyni Boureima, Niger;
• Isaac Onziga Dramadri, Uganda;
• Mounira Elbaz, Tunisia;
• John Saviour Yaw Eleblu, Ghana;
• Inge Gazendam, South Africa;
• Kodjo Glato, Togo;
• Isata Kamanda, Sierra Leone;
• Ghislain Kanfany, Senegal;
• Kesbell Kaonga, Malawi;
• Kumba Yannah Karim, Sierra Leone;
• Alexander Kena, Ghana;
• Moumouni Konate, Burkina Faso;
• Aleck Kondwakwenda, Zimbabwe;
• Samia Lotfy, Morocco;
• Jane Mbugua, Kenya;
• Lloyd Mbulwe, Zambia;
• Amade Muitia, Mozambique;
• Walter Ajambang Nchu, Cameroon;
• Maxwell Okoye, Nigeria;
• Abimbola Oluwaranti, Nigeria;
• Patrick Ongom, Uganda;
• Viviane Raharinivo, Madagascar;
• Santatra Ravelomanantsoa, Madagascar;
• Safiatou Sangaré, Mali;
• Tesfahun Alemu Setotaw, Ethiopia;
• Tigist Shiferaw Girsil, Ethiopia;
• Liliane Tandzi Ngoune, Cameroon;
• Pavithravani Venkataramana, Tanzania;
• Kouadio Nasser Yao, Kenya.

The Seed Biotechnology Center was established at UC Davis in 1999 to mobilize the research, educational and outreach resources of the University of California in partnership with the seed and biotechnology industries, and to facilitate discovery and commercialization of new seed technologies for agricultural and consumer benefits.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), an African Union strategic framework for pan-African socio-economic development, is both a vision and a policy framework for Africa in the twenty-first century. NEPAD is a radically new intervention, spearheaded by African leaders, to address critical challenges facing the continent: poverty, development and Africa's marginalization internationally.

Website: http://sbc.ucdavis.edu

Published: December 7, 2018