irrigation systems

Peasant lad to leading professor: Paul and his passion for pods

Africa, Chickpeas, Crop breeding, Legumes, Researchers No Responses »

Jan 072015

Beyond chickpeas to embrace beans, chickpeas, groundnuts and pigeonpeas

As a scientist who comes from the dessicated drylands of the unforgiving Kerio Valley, where severe drought can mean loss of life through loss of food and animals, what comes first is food security… I could start to give something back to the community… It’s been a dream finally coming true.” – Paul Kimurto, Senior Lecturer and Professor in Crop Physiology and Breeding, Egerton University, Kenya

As a son of peasant farmers growing up in a humble home in the Rift Valley of Kenya, agriculture was, for Paul Kimurto (pictured above), not merely a vocation but a way of life: “Coming from a pastoral community, I used to take care of the cattle and other animals for my father. In my community livestock is key, as is farming of food crops such as maize, beans and finger millet.”

Covering some six kilometres each day by foot to bolster this invaluable home education with rural school, an affiliation and ever-blossoming passion for agriculture soon led him to Kenya’s Egerton University.

There, Paul excelled throughout his undergraduate course in Agricultural Sciences, and was thus hand-picked by his professors to proceed to a Master’s degree in Crop Sciences at the self-same university, before going on to obtain a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholarship to undertake a ‘sandwich’ PhD in Plant Physiology and Crop Breeding at Egerton University and the Leibniz Institute for AgriculturalEngineering (ATB) in Berlin, Germany.

… what comes first is food security… offering alternative drought-tolerant crops… is a dream finally coming true!… GCP turned out to be one of the best and biggest relationships and collaborations we’ve had.”

Local action, global interaction
With his freshly minted PhD, Paul returned to Egerton’s faculty staff and steadily climbed the ranks to his current position as Professor and Senior Lecturer in Crop Physiology and Breeding at Egerton’s Crop Sciences Department. Yet for Paul, motivating this professional ascent throughout has been one fundamental factor: “As a scientist who comes from a dryland area of Kerio valley, where severe drought can mean loss of food and animals, what comes first is food security,” Paul explains. “Throughout the course of my time at Egerton, as I began to understand how to develop and evaluate core crop varieties, I could start to give something back to the community, by offering alternative drought-tolerant crops like chickpeas, pigeonpeas, groundnuts and finger millet that provide farmers and their families with food security. It’s been a dream finally coming true.”

And thus one of academia’s true young-guns was forged: with an insatiable thirst for moving his discipline forward by seeking out innovative solutions to real problems on the ground, Paul focused on casting his net wide and enhancing manpower through effective collaborations, having already established fruitful working relationships with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the (then) Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in earlier collaborative projects on dryland crops in Kenya. It was this strategy that paved the way towards teaming up with GCP, when, in 2008, Paul and his team were commissioned to lead the chickpea work in Kenya for the GCP Tropical Legumes I project (TLI), with local efforts being supported by colleagues at ICRISAT, and friends down the road at KARI undertaking the bean work of the project. Climbing aboard the GCP ship, Paul reveals, was a move worth making: “Our initial engagement with GCP started out as a small idea, but in fact, GCP turned out to be one of the best and biggest relationships and collaborations we’ve had.”

…GCP is people-oriented, and people-driven”

Power to the people!
The success behind this happy marriage, Paul believes, is really quite simple: “The big difference with GCP is that it is people-oriented, and people-driven,” Paul observes, continuing: “GCP is building individuals: people with ideas become equipped to develop professionally.” Paul elaborates further: “I wasn’t very good at molecular breeding before, but now, my colleagues and I have been trained in molecular tools, genotyping, data management, and in the application of molecular tools in the improvement of chickpeas through GCP’s Integrated Breeding Multiyear Course. This has opened up opportunities for our local chickpea research community and beyond, which, without GCP’s support, would not have been possible for us as a developing-country institution.”

Inspecting maturity, Koibatek FTC, Bomet_R Mulwa_Sep'12_w

Inspecting pod maturity with farmers at Koibatek Farmers Training Centre in Eldama Ravine Division, Baringo County, Kenya, in September 2012. Paul is on the extreme right.

Passionate about his teaching and research work, it’s a journey of discovery Paul is excited to have shares with others: “My co-workers and PhD students have all benefitted. Technicians have been trained abroad. All my colleagues have a story to tell,” he says. And whilst these stories may range from examples of access to training, infrastructure or genomic resources, the common thread throughout is one of self-empowerment and the new-found ability to move forward as a team: “Thanks to our involvement with the GCP’s Genotyping Support Service, we now know how to send plant DNA to the some of the world’s best labs and to analyse the results, as well as to plan for the costs. With training in how to prepare the fields, and infrastructure such as irrigation systems and resources such as tablets, which help us to take data in the field more precisely, we are now generating accurate research results leading to high-quality data.”

The links we’ve established have been tremendous, and we think many of them should be long-lasting too: even without GCP“

Teamwork, international connections and science with a strong sense of mission
Teaming up with other like-minded colleagues from crème de la crème institutions worldwide has also been vital, he explains: “The links we’ve established have been tremendous, and we think many of them should be long-lasting too: even without GCP, we should be able to sustain collaboration with KBioscience [now LGC Genomics] or ICRISAT for example, for genotyping or analysing our data.” He holds similar views towards GCP’s Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP): “IBP is one of the ideas which we think, even after GCP’s exit in December 2014, will continue to support our breeding programmes. My colleagues and I consult IBP regularly for a range of aspects, from markers to protocols to germplasm and the helpdesk, as well as for contacts and content available via the IBP Communities of Practice.” Paul’s colleagues are Richard Mulwa, Alice Kosgei, Serah Songok, Moses Oyier, Paul Korir, Bernard Towett, Nancy Njogu and Lilian Samoei. Paul continues: “We’ve also been encouraging our regional partners to register on IBP – I believe colleagues across Eastern and Central Africa could benefit from this one-stop shop.”

Yet whilst talking animatedly about the greater sophistication and accuracy in his work granted as a result of new infrastructure and the wealth of molecular tools and techniques now available to him and his team, at no point do Paul’s attentions stray from the all-important bigger picture of food security and sustainable livelihoods for his local community: “When we started in 2008, chickpeas were known as a minor crop, with little economic value, and in the unfavoured cluster termed ‘orphan crops’ in research. Since intensifying our work on the crop through TLI, we have gradually seen chickpeas become, thanks to their relative resilience against drought, an important rotational crop after maize and wheat during the short rains in dry highlands of Rift valley and also in the harsh environments of the Kerio Valley and swathes of Eastern Kenya.”

This GCP-funded weather station is at Koibatek Farmers Training Centre.

Having such a back-up in place can prove a vital lifeline to farmers, Paul explains, particularly during moments of crisis, citing the 2011–2012 outbreak of the maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease which wiped out all the maize throughout Kenya’s Bomet County, where Paul, Richard, Bernard and their team had been working on the chickpea reference set. Those farmers who had planted chickpeas – Paul recalls Toroto and Absalom as two such fortunate souls – were food-secure. Moreover, GCP support for infrastructure such as a weather station have helped farmers in Koibatek County to predict weather patterns and anticipate rainfall, whilst an irrigation system in the area is being used by the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture to develop improved seed varieties and pasture for farmers.

The science behind the scenes and the resultant products are of course not to be underestimated: in collaboration with ICRISAT, Paul and his team released four drought-resistant chickpea varieties in Kenya in 2012, with the self-same collaboration leading to the integration of at least four varieties of the crop using marker-assisted backcrossing, one of which is in the final stages and soon to be released for field testing. With GCP having contributed to the recent sequencing of the chickpea genome, Paul and his colleagues are now looking to up their game by possibly moving into work on biotic stresses in the crop such as diseases, an ambitious step which Paul feels confident can be realised through effective collaboration, with potential contenders for the mission including ICRISAT (for molecular markers), Ethiopia and Spain (for germplasm) and researchers at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) for germplasm. Paul first established contact with all of these partners during GCP meetings.

By coming together, pooling skills from biotechnology, agronomy, breeding, statistics and other disciplines, we are stronger as a unit and better equipped to offer solutions to African agriculture and to the current challenges we face.”

Links that flower, a roving eye, and the heat is on!
In the meantime, the fruits of other links established since joining the GCP family are already starting to blossom. For example, TLI products such as certified seeds of chickpea varieties being released in Kenya – and in particular the yet-to-be-released marker-assisted breeding chickpea lines which are currently under evaluation – caught the eye of George Birigwa, Senior Programme Officer at the Program for Africa’s Seed Systems (PASS) initiative of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), which is now supporting the work being undertaken by Paul and his team through the Egerton Seed Unit and Variety Development Centre (of which Paul is currently Director) at the Agro-Based Science Park.

Yet whilst Paul’s love affair with chickpeas has evidently been going from strength to strength, he has also enjoyed a healthy courtship with research in other legumes: by engaging in a Pan-African Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) bean project coordinated by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Paul and his team were able to release and commercialise three bean varieties which are currently in farmers’ fields in Kenya.

Paul (left) in the field. The crop is chickpeas of course!

With so many pots on the boil, the heat is certainly on in Paul’s research kitchen, yet he continues to navigate such daily challenges with characteristic aplomb. As a proven leader of change in his community and a ‘ can-do, make-it-happen’ kind of guy, he is driving research forward to ensure that both his school and discipline remain fresh and relevant – and he’s taking his colleagues, students and local community along with him every step of the way.

Indeed, rallying the troops for the greater good is an achievement he values dearly: “By coming together, pooling skills from biotechnology, agronomy, breeding, statistics and other disciplines, we are stronger as a unit and better equipped to offer solutions to African agriculture and to the current challenges we face,” he affirms. This is a crusade he has no plans to abandon any time soon, as revealed when quizzed on his future aspirations and career plans: “My aim is to continue nurturing my current achievements, and to work harder to improve my abilities and provide opportunities for my institution, colleagues, students, friends and people within the region.”

With the chickpea research community thriving, resulting in concrete food-security alternatives, we raise a toast to Paul Kimurto and his chickpea champions!

Links

Chickpeas – Project | Blogposts | Videos | Slides | InfoCentre
PHOTOS: An album on Flickr with photos from a GCP visit to Paul’s team at Egerton University
Paul’s slides on the data management of his research below

TLI 2012: Data management for chickpea breeding – Kenya from CGIAR Generation Challenge Programme

‘Milking’ cowpeas in Mozambique for protein and profit… plus a pox upon pests!

Africa, Capacity building, Cowpeas, Crop breeding, Genomics, Legumes No Responses »

May 302014

Rogério Chiulele

Today, we travel the Milky Way on a voyage to Mozambique. Our man along the Milky Way is Rogério Marcos Chiulele (pictured), a lecturer at Mozambique’s Universidade Eduardo Mondlane’s Crop Science Department. He is also the lead scientist for cowpea research in Mozambique for the Tropical Legumes I (TLI) project. This gives Rogério a crucial tri-focal down-to-earth and away-from-the-clouds perspective on cowpea pedagogy, research and development. It is through this pragmatic triple-lens prism that Rogerio speaks to us today, once he’s captained us safely back from the stars to Planet Earth, Southeast Africa. After the protein and profit, next stop for him and team is ridding cowpeas of pod-sucking pests, among other things slated for the future. But back from the future to the present and its rooted realities…Problems, yes, but also lots of good scores, plus a deft sleight of hand that are bound to have you starry-eyed, we bet.

…cowpeas rank fourth as the most cultivated crop…”

Q: Tell us about Mozambique and cowpeas: are they important?

The devastating effects of nematodes on cowpea roots.

In Mozambique, cowpeas are an important source of food, for both protein and profit, particularly for the resource-poor households that benefit from cowpea income and nutrition. In terms of cultivation, cowpeas rank fourth as the most cultivated crop after maize, cassava and groundnuts, accounting for about 9 percent of the total cultivated area, and estimated at nearly four million hectares of smallholder farms. The crop is produced for grain and leaves, mostly for household consumption but it is becoming increasingly important as a supplement for household income.

But while its potential for food, protein and income is recognised, the realisation of such potential is still limited by drought due to irregular and insufficient rain; affliction by pests such as aphids, flower thrips and nematodes; diseases such as cowpea aphid mosaic virus and cowpea golden mosaic virus; and cultivation of low-yielding and non-improved varieties.

…we backcross to varieties with traits that farmers prefer…”

Q: And on cowpea research and breeding?
Since 2008, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane [UEM] established a cowpea-breeding programme for addressing some of the limiting constraints affecting cowpea production and productivity. This has been possible through collaboration with different funding institutions such as the Generation Challenge Programme.

2008: Screening of the 300 genotypes.

That same year [2008], a UEM research team that I coordinate qualified for a GCP capacity-building à la carte grant. In this project, we screened 300 Mozambican cowpea lines for drought tolerance. From these, we identified 84 genotypes that were either high-yielding or drought-tolerant. We further evaluated the 84 genotypes for another three seasons in two locations. From the 84, we identified six genotypes that not only had the two sought-after traits, but were also adapted to different environments.

In 2010, the UEM team joined the TLI project. For the six pre-identified genotypes, the UEM breeding programme is using marker-assisted recurrent selection [MARS] and marker-assisted backcrossing [MABC], combining drought tolerance and resistance to major biotic stresses occurring in Mozambique. In MABC, we are conducting a backcross to varieties with traits that farmers prefer, which includes aspects such as large seeds, early maturity and high leaf production.

…we conducted a farmers’ participatory varietal selection to glean farmers’ perceptions and preferences on cowpea varieties and traits…”

Q: What is the main focus in your work, and how and when do farmers come in?
The breeding work conducted by UEM is targeting all Mozambican agroecologies, but with particular focus on southern Mozambique which is drought-prone. In addition to drought, the area is plagued by many pests such as aphids, flower thrips, nematodes and pod-sucking pests. So, in addition to drought tolerance, we are conducting screening and selection for resistance to aphids, flower thrips and nematodes. In the near future, we will start screening for resistance to pod-sucking pests.

2009: field screening of the 84 genotypes in diff locations.

2009: Rogério during field screening of the 84 genotypes in different locations.

In 2009, we conducted a farmers’ participatory varietal selection to glean farmers’ perceptions and preferences on cowpea varieties and traits. From the study, six of the lines passed participatory variety selection with farmers, as they were large-seeded with good leaf production which provides additional food.

we hope to release three varieties in 2015…Our involvement with GCP has not only increased our exposure, but also brought along tangible benefits… I firmly believe black-eyed peas can really make a difference.”

Q: To what would you attribute the successes your team is scoring, and what are your goals for the future, besides screening for pod-sucking pests?
The success of the work that the Eduardo Mondlane team is doing is partly due to the collaboration and partnership with USA’s University of California, Riverside [UCR]. UCR sent us 60 lines from the GCP cowpea reference set* [Editorial note: see explanation at the bottom], which we evaluated for drought tolerance for four seasons in two locations – one with average rainfall and the other drought-prone. As these lines were already drought-tolerant, we tested them for adaptation to the local environment, and for high yield. From the set, we hope to release three varieties in 2015. In addition, for evaluating the different varieties, we also crossed the local varieties with black-eyed peas, which have a huge market appeal: local varieties fetch roughly half a US dollar per kilo, compared to black-eyed peas whose price is in the region of four to five US dollars.

2013: multilocation trials.

Our involvement with GCP has not only increased our exposure, but also brought along tangible benefits. For example, previously, nothing was being done on drought tolerance for cowpeas. But now we receive and exchange material, for example, the black-eyed peas from UCR that we received through GCP, which are set to boost production and markets, thereby improving lives and livelihoods. Amongst the varieties we are proposing to release is one black-eye type. I firmly believe black-eyed peas can really make a difference.

In addition, besides funding a PhD for one of our researchers, Arsenio Ndeve, who is currently at UCR, the Generation Challenge Programme, contributed to improvement on storage and irrigation facilities. We purchased five deep freezers for seed storage and one irrigation pump. Presently, we have adequate storage facilities and we conduct trials even during the off-season, thanks to the irrigation pump provided by GCP.

****

And on that upbeat note even as the challenge ahead is immense, today’s chat with Rogério ends here. To both pod-sucking pests and all manner of plagues on cowpeas, beware, as thy days are numbered: it would seem that Rogério and team firmly say: “A pox on both your houses!”

*A ‘reference set’ is a sub-sample of existing germplasm collections that facilitates and enables access to existing crop diversity for desired traits, such as drought tolerance or resistance to disease or pests

Links

REPORT on Rogério’s groundbreaking cowpea research capacity-building project on pp 130–132 in this PDF. Excerpt: “This project was the first of this nature in the country.”
BLOGPOST: Cowpeas – uncowed and unbowed: believing that what could be can be, in breeding
BLOGPOST: Profile on Jeff Ehlers, previously TLI cowpea research leader, he talks of his past but also his TLI work in this post
Cowpea research | research products | blogposts
Legumes Research initiative | InfoCentre | blogposts
Capacity building

Tanzanian groundnut researchers breaking new ground…and carrying their own crosses!

Africa, Capacity building, Groundnuts, Legumes No Responses »

May 122014

Omari Mponda

After getting a good grounding on the realities of groundnut research from Vincent, our next stop is East Africa, Tanzania, where we meet Omari Mponda (pictured). Omari is a Principal Agricultural Officer and plant breeder at Tanzania’s Agricultural Research Institute (ARI), Naliendele, and country groundnut research leader for the Tropical Legumes I (TLI) project, implemented through our Legumes Research Initiative. Groundnut production in Tanzania is hampered by drought in the central region and by rosette and other foliar diseases in all regions. But all is not bleak, and there is a ray of hope: “We’ve been able to identify good groundnut-breeding material for Tanzania for both drought tolerance as well as disease resistance,” says Omari. Omari’s team are also now carrying their own crosses, and happy about it. Read on to find out why they are not labouring under the weight of the crosses they carry…

…we have already released five varieties…TLI’s major investment in Tanzania’s groundnut breeding has been the irrigation system… Frankly, we were not used to being so well-equipped!”

Q: How did you go about identifying appropriate groundnut-breeding material for Tanzania?
A: We received 300 reference-set lines from ICRISAT [International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics], which we then genotyped over three years [2008– 2010] for both drought tolerance and disease resistance. After we identified the best varieties, these were advanced to TLII [TLI’s sister project] for participatory variety selection with farmers in 2011–2012, followed by seed multiplication. From our work with ICRISAT, we have already released five varieties.

Harvesting ref set collection at Naliendele_w

Harvesting the groundnut reference-set collection at Naliendele. A ‘reference set’ is a sub-sample of existing germplasm collections that facilitates and enables access to existing crop diversity for desired traits, such as drought tolerance or resistance to disease or pests.

ARI–Naliendele has also benefitted from both human and infrastructure capacity building. Our scientists and technicians were trained in drought phenotyping at ICRISAT Headquarters in India. One of our research assistants, Mashamba Philipo, benefitted from six-month training, following which he advanced to an MSc specialising in drought phenotpying using molecular breeding. In his work, he is now using drought germplasm received from ICRISAT. In terms of laboratory and field infrastructure, the station got irrigation equipment to optimise drought-phenotyping trials. Precision phenotyping and accurate phenotypic data are indispensable for effective molecular breeding. To facilitate this, ARI–Naliendele benefitted from computers, measuring scales, laboratory ware and a portable weather station, all in a bid to assure good information on phenotyping. But by far, TLI’s major investment in Tanzania’s groundnut breeding has been the irrigation system which is about to be completed. This will be very useful as we enter TLIII for drought phenotyping.

For us, this is a big achievement to be able to do national crosses. Previously, we relied on ICRISAT…we are advancing to a functional breeding programme in Tanzania… gains made are not only sustainable, but also give us independence and autonomy to operate..We developing-country scientists are used to applied research and conventional breeding, but we now see the value and the need for adjusting ourselves to understand the use of molecular markers in groundnut breeding.”

Omari (right), with Hannibal Muhtar (left), who was contracted by GCP to implement infrastructure improvement for ARI Naliendele. See http://bit.ly/1hriGRp

Flashback to 2010: Omari (right), with Hannibal Muhtar (left), who was contracted by GCP to implement infrastructure improvement for ARI Naliendele, and other institutes. See http://bit.ly/1hriGRp

Q: What difference has participating in TLI made?
A: Frankly, we were not used to being so well-equipped, neither with dealing with such a large volume as 300 lines! But we filtered down and selected the well-performing lines which had the desired traits, and we built on these good lines. The equipment purchased through the project not only helped us with the actual phenotyping and being able to accurately confirm selected lines, but also made it possible for us to conduct off-season trials.

We’re learning hybridisation skills so that we can use TLI donors to improve local varieties, and our technicians have been specifically trained in this area. For us, this is a big achievement to be able to do national crosses. Previously, we relied on ICRISAT doing the crosses for us, but we can now do our own crosses. The difference this makes is that we are advancing to a functional breeding programme in Tanzania, meaning the gains made are not only sustainable, but also give us independence and autonomy to operate. Consequently, we are coming up with other segregating material from what we’ve already obtained, depending on the trait of interest we are after.

Another big benefit is directly interacting with world-class scientists in the international arena through the GCP community and connections – top-rated experts not just from ICRISAT, but also from IITA, CIAT, EMBRAPA [Brazil], and China’s DNA Research Institute. We have learnt a lot from them, especially during our annual review meetings. We developing-country scientists are used to applied research and conventional breeding, but we now see the value and the need for adjusting ourselves to understand the use of molecular markers in groundnut breeding. We now look forward to TLIII where we expect to make impact by practically applying our knowledge to groundnut production in Tanzania.

Interesting! And this gets us squarely back to capacity building. What are your goals or aspirations in this area?
A: Let us not forget that TLI is implemented by the national programmes. In Africa, capacity building is critical, and people want to be trained. I would love to see fulltime scientists advance to PhD level in these areas which are a new way of doing business for us. I would love for us to have the capacity to adapt to our own environment for QTLs [quantitative trait loci], QTL mapping, and marker-assisted selection. Such capacity at national level would be very welcome. We also hope to link with advanced labs such as BecA [Biosciences eastern and southern Africa] for TLI activities, and to go beyond service provision with them so that our scientists can go to these labs and learn.

There should also be exchange visits between scientists for learning and sharing, to get up to date on the latest methods and technologies out there. For GCP’s Integrated Breeding Platform [IBP], this would help IBP developers to design reality-based tools, and also to benefit from user input in refining the tools.

Links

Groundnuts – Research | Research products | Videos | Blogposts | InfoCentre | Slides
Legumes – Research Initiative | InfoCentre (including for groundnuts)
Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP) – What’s it all about? | Introduction blogpost | Other IBP blogposts
TLIII – Tropical Legumes III Project
‘Naliendele’ demystified: what does the name mean?

SLIDES by Omari on groundnut research and research data management in Tanzania

TLI 2012: Groundnut breeding – Tanzania from CGIAR Generation Challenge Programme

TLI 2012: Data management for groundnut breeding – Tanzania from CGIAR Generation Challenge Programme

Sororal science and a mentor on a mission – why cassava and capacity building are closely coupled

Africa, Capacity building, Cassava, Crop breeding, Researchers, Women in science No Responses »

Mar 052014

Two peas in a pod, hand in hand,

Elizabeth Parkes

“In the past, the assumption was always that ‘Africa can’t do this.’ Now, people see that when given a chance to get round circumstances – as GCP has done for us through the provision of resources, motivation, encouragement and training – Africa can achieve so much!…GCP has made us visible and attractive to others; we are now setting the pace and doing science in a more refined and effective manner…Building human capacity is my greatest joy….I’ve pushed to make people recognise that women can do advanced agricultural science, and do it well. To see a talented woman researcher firmly established in her career and with her kids around her is thrilling….Rural families are held together by women, so if you are able to change their lot, you can make a real mark…” – Elizabeth Parkes, cassava researcher, Ghana

Elizabeth’s PhD is on cassava genetic diversity, combining ability, stability and farmer preference in Ghana. But for Elizabeth, it is not the academic laurels and limelight but rather, a broader vision of social justice which really drives her: “I see African communities where poverty and hunger are seemingly huge problems with no way out; I’m fortunate to be working on a crop whereby, if I put in enough effort, I can bring some solutions. My primary target group in my research is the less privileged, and women in particular have been my friends throughout. Rural families are held together by women, so if you are able to change their lot, you can make a real mark.”

…agricultural research was a man’s job!”

A perennial passion for cassava, and walking with giants: Elizabeth with the pick of the crop for the 2014 cassava harvest season at IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Prowess and prejudice: Breaking the mould and pioneering into pastures new
On first tentatively dipping her toe into the professional waters of crop science when growing up in her native Ghana, initial reactions from her nearest and dearest suggested that carving out a name for herself in her career of choice was never going to be a walk in the park: “As an only girl among eight boys of whom three were half-siblings, and the youngest child, my father was not very amused; he thought agricultural research was a man’s job!” she recalls. Undeterred and ever more determined to turn this commonly held canard on its head, Elizabeth went on to bag a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, a diploma in Education, and an MPhil degree in Crop Science. During a stint of national service between academic degrees, she approached a scientist engaged in root and tuber projects at Ghana’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Crops Research Institute (CRI), offering to carry out some research on cassava, and soon establishing the institute’s first trials in Techiman, in the Brong Ahafo Region,where she was doing her national service. Recognising all the hallmarks of a great scientist, nurturer and leader, her CRI colleagues were quick to welcome this fresh talent into the fold as an Assistant Research Officer, with the full treasure trove of root tuber crops – from cassava to sweet potato to yam and cocoyam, among others – all falling under her remit. Not a bad start for the first woman to be assigned to the project!

Quickly proving herself as a fiercely cerebral researcher with a natural knack for the plant sciences, Elizabeth was encouraged by seasoned (then) GCP scientist, Martin Fregene (their paths had crossed during Elizabeth’s master’s degree thanks to research collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture – IITA), to embark on a PhD degree with a focus on cassava. Coinciding with an era when links between Martin’s then home institute, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and GCP were beginning to really take off the ground, it was a move that proved timely, and a path which Elizabeth pursued with her characteristic vigour and aplomb, climbing the GCP research ranks from multiple travel-grant recipient to a research fellow, and, more recently, to Lead Researcher for GCP’s cassava work in Ghana. Now a well established cassava connoisseur who regularly rubs shoulders with the crème de la crème of the global crop science community, Elizabeth specialises in drought tolerance and disease resistance in the GCP-related aspects of her work, whilst also turning her hand to biofortification research for GCP sister CGIAR Challenge Programme, HarvestPlus.

… it [biotechnology] was a breakthrough which Elizabeth spearheaded…”

Up, up and away! How a helping hand has led Elizabeth & Co to new professional and research heights
Life aboard the GCP ship, Elizabeth reveals, has offered a wealth of professional opportunities, both on personal and institutional levels. GCP-funded infrastructure, such as weather stations and irrigation systems, has helped to boost yields and enhance the efficiency of CRI trials, she observes. Professional development for herself and her team, she says, has been multifold: “Through our GCP work, we were able to build a lab and kick-start marker-assisted breeding – that ignited the beginning of biotechnology activities in CRI,” Elizabeth asserts. It was a breakthrough which Elizabeth spearheaded, and which, happily, has since become run-of-the mill practice for the institute: “Now CRI scientists are regularly using molecular tools to do their work and are making cassava crosses on their own.” The positive domino effect of this change in tide cannot be underestimated: “Our once small biotechnology laboratory has evolved into a Centre of Excellence under the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme. Its first-class facilities, training courses and guiding hand in finding solutions have attracted countless visiting scientists, both from Ghana and internationally – this means that the subregion is also benefitting enormously.” The GCP’s Genotyping Support Service (GSS), Elizabeth affirms, has also proved an invaluable sidekick to these developments: “Through the GSS, our team learnt how to extract DNA as a first step, and later to re-enact all the activities that were initially done for us externally – data sequencing, interpretation and analysis for example – on a smaller scale in our own lab.” The collection and crunching of data has also become a breeze: “Thanks to GCP’s support, we have become a pace-setter for electronic data gathering using tablets, field notebooks and hand-held devices,” she adds.

….GCP gives you the keys to solving your own problems, and puts structures in place so that knowledge learnt abroad can be transferred and applied at home – it’s been an amazing journey!”

Ruth Prempeh, one of Elizabeth’s charges, collecting data for her GCP-funded PhD on cassava post-harvest physiological deterioration. Ruth is one of those whose work–family balance Elizabeth celebrates. Ruth has since submitted her thesis awaiting results. As you’ll hear in the podcast below, both of Ruth’s young children have each, er, sort of ‘attended’ two big GCP events!

People power: capacity building and work–life balance
Elizabeth lights up most when waxing lyrical about the leaps and bounds made by her many students and charges through the years, who – in reaping some of the benefits offered by GCP, such as access to improved genetic materials; forging links with like-minded colleagues near and far, and, critically, capacity building – have gone on to become established and often internationally recognised breeders or researchers, with the impacts of their work posting visible scores in the fight against global food insecurity. On the primordial role of capacity building, she says: “GCP gives you the keys to solving your own problems, and puts structures in place so that knowledge learnt abroad can be transferred and applied at home – it’s been an amazing journey!” Of her female students who’ve surmounted the work–family pendulum challenge, she says: “I’ve pushed to make people recognise that women can do advanced agricultural science, and do it well. To see a talented woman researcher firmly established in her career and with her kids around her is thrilling.”

At IITA, Elizabeth continues to be an inspiration on work–life balance for women working on their PhDs, and more so for young women whose work is on cassava. In a male-dominated environment (global statistics report that women researchers are a meagre 30 percent), this inspiration is critical. .

No ‘I’ in team: tight-knit community a must for kick-starting real and sustainable solutions
As Elizabeth well knows, one swallow does not a summer make: as demonstrated by the GCP’s Communities of Practice (CoPs), she says, strength really does come in numbers: “The GCP Cassava CoP has brought unity amongst cassava breeders worldwide; it’s about really understanding and tackling cassava challenges together, and bringing solutions home.” Bolstering this unified spirit, Elizabeth continues, is the GCP’s Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP): “With the initial teething problems mainly behind us, IBP is now creating a global community and is an excellent way of managing limited resources, reducing duplication of efforts and allowing people to be more focused.” On helping scientists inundated with information to spot the wood from the trees, she says: “Over the years, lots of data have been generated, but you couldn’t find them! Now, thanks to IBP, you have sequencing information that you can tap into and utilise as and where you need to. It’s very laudable achievement!”

In the past, the assumption was always that ‘Africa can’t do this.’…GCP has made us visible and attractive to others; we are now setting the pace and doing science in a more refined and effective manner.”

Clearly, keeping the company of giants is not new for Elizabeth (right). This giant cassava tuber is from a 2010 CRI trial crossing improved CIAT material with CRI landraces (traditional farmer varieties. The trial was part of Bright Boakye Peprah’s postgraduate work. Bright has since completed his GCP-funded master’s degree on cassava breeding, and now a full time cassava breeder with CSIR–CRI. He is currently on study leave pursuing a PhD on cassava biofortification in South Africa. On the left is Joseph Adjebeng-Danquah, a GCP-funded PhD student whose work centres on cassava drought tolerance. Our best quote from Joseph: “It is important to move away from the all too common notion that cassava is an ‘anywhere, anyhow’ crop.”

Empowered and engaged: African cassava researchers reclaim the driving seat
The bedrock of GCP’s approach, Elizabeth suggests, is the facilitation of that magical much sought-after Holy Grail: self-empowerment. “When I first joined GCP,” she recalls, “I saw myself as somebody from a country programme being given a place at the table; my inputs were recognised and what I said would carry weight in decision-making.” It’s a switch she has seen gain traction at national and indeed regional levels: “In the past, the assumption was always that ‘Africa can’t do this.’ Now, people see that when given a chance to get round circumstances – as GCP has done for us through the provision of resources, motivation, encouragement and training – Africa can achieve so much!” Reflecting on the knock-on effect for African cassava researchers particularly, she concludes: “GCP has made us visible and attractive to others; we are now setting the pace and doing science in a more refined and effective manner.”

Paying it forward and sharing: Helping women, and thereby, communities
Armed with bundles of knowledge as she is, Elizabeth is a firm believer in paying it forward and sharing: “Building human capacity is my greatest joy,” she affirms, citing farmers, breeders, and a Ghanaian private-sector company as just a few of the fortunate beneficiaries of her expertise over recent years. And on sources of motivation, it is not the academic laurels or limelight but rather a broader vision of social justice which really drives her: “I see African communities where poverty and hunger are seemingly huge problems with no way out; I’m fortunate to be working on a crop whereby, if I put in enough effort, I can bring some solutions.” They are solutions which she hopes will be of lasting service to those closest to her heart: “My primary target group in my research is the less privileged, and women in particular have been my friends throughout. Rural families are held together by women, so if you are able to change their lot, you can make a real mark.”

We’re in a blessed and privileged era where cassava, an ancient and once orphan crop, is now receiving lots of attention… I encourage young scientists to come on board!”

Inspired, and inspiring: nurturing budding cassava converts, and seizing opportunities for impact
In terms of future horizons, Elizabeth – who after more than two decades of service at CRI is currently on leave of absence at IITA where she’s working on biofortification of cassava – hopes to thereby further advance her work on cassava biofortification, and perhaps later move into a management role, focusing on decision-making and leading agricultural research leaders with monitoring and evaluation specifically to “ensure that the right people are being equipped with skills and knowledge, and that those people are in turn teaching others.” She is also confident that any young, gifted researcher with an eye on the prize would be foolhardy to overlook what Elizabeth views as a golden opportunity for creating meaningful and lasting impacts: “We’re in a blessed and privileged era where cassava, an ancient and once orphan crop, is now receiving lots of attention. Every agricultural research lead we have in Africa is there to be seized – I encourage young scientists to come on board!” A clear and convincing clarion call to budding breeders or potential cassava converts if ever there was one…. who wants in, in this love-match where cassava and capacity building are truly two peas in a pod?

Like meets like in a fair match: Our cassava champion in a male-dominated environment, Elizabeth, meets her match in Farmer Beatrice who refused to take no for an answer, and beat Elizabeth hands down. Listen to this!

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