Training Plant Breeders at WACCI for the future of Food Security in West & Central Africa Eric Y. Danquah Director, WACCI (www.wacci.edu.gh) University of Ghana
Special Seminar, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, IP-CALS Cornell University, Ithaca, Cornell, NY, Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Greetings from Ghana “A COUNTRY AT PEACE WITH ITSELF AND THE REST OF THE WORLD”
President John Mahama
President John Mahama (right) in a handshake with Nana Akufo Addo (left), flagbearer of the main opposition party
Some tourists attractions
Some tourists attractions
The Volta lake at Akosombo and beaches
The University of Ghana •
A renowned university for its achievements; now in its 7th decade
•
Has suffered many challenges - explosion in student numbers - limited facilities - staff attraction and retention - governance & structural - funding - integrity of our procedures
•
But, has repositioned itself on the path of recovery
Standards in Agricultural Education deteriorated between 1970 and the mid-1990s
Poor Structures
Low staff morale Weak postgraduate programmes
Problems
Inadequate funds to support research
effect
Brain drain
Student Hostels
UG Accra City Campus
International House
Outline • •
• • •
Context The WACCI Program - Genesis - Program Structure - Developments to date 3 Case studies Looking ahead Conclusion
Food Insecurity in West Africa 30% live below the poverty line 17% are still food insecure
33% of children under five years are stunted 10% are wasted
West Africa - 280 million people
Key Challenges
Maize, Rice, Cassava, Cowpea, Groundnut Sorghum, Pearl Millet, Soyabean, Sweet Potato
Effects of the some challenges on African Agriculture
Source: http://sustainableinnovations.biz/freeze_the_footprint.htm
Rice Varietal Trial -1 (Nobewam, (Nobewam, Ghana, Ghana, June July 2011) Drought in rice field 2009)
Courtesy: Courtesy:Dr. Dr.Kofi KofiDartey Dartey(CRI, (CRI,Ghana) Ghana)
Area
Stagnating Agricultural Productivity in SSA
Yield South Asia Sub-Saharan Cereal yields (hg/ha) in China, Africa and Southern Asia between 1961Africa and 2010 Source: Montpellier Panel Report (2013) Source: www.ifdc.org
We can’t fool farmers more than once
Average farm size and yields of eight major crops in northern Ghana (Quaye, 2008) 2.995
0.7 0.587
Sorghum
0.93 1.024
Maize
0.79
0.494
Millet
0.71
0.437
Rice
Farm Size (Ha)
0.79
Yam
0.59 0.734
0.53 0.456
Groundnut Cowpea
Source: MIS, CSIR, 2011
MSc
MPhil
Highest Degree
0.46
Soyabean
Average Yield (t/ha)
Number of plant breeders at CSIR, Ghana 6 4 3
BSc
0.75
10 8
PhD
Number of Plant Breeders in some countries in West Africa Benin Burkina Faso Cote d'Ivoire Gambia Ghana Mali
Niger Nigeria Senegal Sierra Leone Togo 0
15
30
BSc.
45
60
MSc.
75
90
PhD
105
120
135
150
The Genesis of WACCI •
Scoping Study commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation in August 2006,
-to identify universities in West and Central Africa with potentials to become the nucleus of an Africawide plant breeding capacity program at the MSc. and PhD levels •
Recommended a Centre for Plant Breeding at the University of Ghana as the ACCI for W. & C. Africa (EACI - PASS, AGRA funding)
Rockefeller Assessment Mission (January 2007)
-
Dr. Eugene Terry, Consultant Dr. Ronnie Coffman, Cornell University Dr. Vern Gracen, Cornell University Dr. Mark Laing, ACCI, UKZN, SA Mr. Stefan Eainarson, Cornell University Dr. Eric Y. Danquah Dr. Samuel K. Offei
Cornell University, June 2006
Eric Y. Danquah Dean, International Programmes University of Ghana
Sam K. Offei Dean, SOA CACS, UG
Tim Setter …………. Jim Haldane
Ronnie Coffman, Director of International Programs CALS, Cornell University Stefan Einarson Director, TNL, CALS
A new generation of plant breeders trained in West Africa, June 2006 Welltrained
Focus on WA Crops
Critical Strategic Thinker mass of scientists
Team Player
New varieties
ResultsDriven
An African Green Revolution
West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) Established in June, 2007 to train plant breeders over a 10-year period (AGRA-PASS grant); Additional GCP grant in 2008
Inauguration of WACCI, 12th March 2008 Over $13 million attracted to date
The WACCI Programme An innovative 4-year PhD programme Year I: Foundation Courses and Modules
Courses and modules of special topics in plant breeding, genetics, biotechnology and related subjects
Year II - IV: Thesis Research Students return to their home institutions to conduct their thesis research. Students return to the University of Ghana during the last four months of their final year (Year IV) to finish their write up and submit dissertation.
English Language Proficiency Training for Francophone students
Language Centre, University of Ghana
Year I - Foundation year First semester
Plant Genetics Genetic improvement of Crop Plants Biometry & Research Methods Plant Microbe Interactions & the Control of Plant Diseases* Integrated Pest Management (IPM)*
Second semester
Molecular Genetics & Biotechnology in Plant Breeding Quantitative Inheritance in Plant Breeding Physiology of Environmental Stresses Plant Cell & Tissue Culture* Plant Virology & Viral Diseases*
* Electives
Visiting Scientists (Advanced Modules) 1 2 5 3
4 11
16
12
6 8 10
13
7 17
15
9
14
Tissue Culture and Plant Transformation
Seed Business Development|Scientific
| Cassava breeding | 17. Dr. Bill Puplampu Cowpea breeding | Breeding Designs and Striga Resistance | Breeding Sorghum | Vegetable Breeding | Leadership training | SAS | Genetics Data Handling | Marker Assisted Rice Breeding | Molecular markers in maize, sorghum, millet and cowpea Communication and Library Tools
|
|
Breeding Sweet potato
Proposal reviews via Video Conferencing
Years II- IV - Research phase (Research supervision by in-country and WACCI supervisors)
Years II- IV - Research phase (Research supervision by in-country and WACCI supervisors)
Cohorts 1 & 2 - 18 students, completed PhD studies
Our first Graduates, July 26, 2013
Our first Graduates, July 26, 2013
Cohorts 3-7 (49 Doctoral Students)
Uganda
Sierra Leone
22 Female (45%) 25 Anglophone (51%) 24 Francophone (49%)
Kenya
WACCI maize breeding programme • 1,750 hybrids under evaluation • Collaborations with SeedCo, Zimbabwe, SARI, Nyankpala and Premium Foods, Ghana - multilocations trials of 10 hybrid varieties (9 - 11 t/ha)
WACCI-Purdue University functional gene discovery platform for sorghum improvement (BMGF Funded project)
Genotyping (Sequencing) and phenotyping 600 EMS mutant lines together with 30 diverse varieties selected from breeding programmes in West Africa
Crop
No. of Students
Maize
12
Cassava
11
Chickpea
1
Groundnut
4
Pearl Millet
5
Rice
7
Sorghum
10
Sweet Potato
Cowpea
4
13
Students theses research area
Improving ß carotene content Improving yield under drought
No. of Students 4 14
Improving grain/seed quality
3
Phosphorus use efficiency
3
Breeding for resistance to downy mildew
3
Breeding for resistance against striga
8
Breeding for tolerance to low soil nitrogen
3
Rapid breeding cycles
3
Breeding for resistance against thrips
3
Panicle architecture in sorghum
1
Alkalinity tolerance
1
Breeding for tolerance to acid soils
1
Breeding for resistance to grain mold
1
Postharvest physiological deterioration
2
Tolerance to iron toxicity
1
Breeding for resistance to bacterial wilt
1
Breeding for tolerance to high salinity
2
Case studies
1. Ahmadu Issaka, Niger Downy mildew (DM) resistant F1 Pearl millet •
Participatory Rural Appraisal in 3 villages
•
Heterosis and Combining ability of 16 Hybrids and their parents
•
Hybrids and parents screened for mildew resistance
•
Identified high yielding hybrids with resistance to DM
•
Breeder seed under multiplication
2. Moses Adebayo, Nigeria Drought Tolerance in crosses of adapted and exotic maize inbred lines
• Genetic diversity in maize inbred lines using molecular markers • Genetic control of drought tolerance and identification of superior single cross hybrids
• Heterotic grouping of inbred lines • GxE effects on Hybrids
3. Maxwell Asante, CRI, Ghana Quality traits in rice • Participatory Rural Appraisal • Mapped QTLs for grain quality and agronomic traits in a BC1F2 population using GbS • Efficiency of SNP markers derived from GbS for selection of grain quality loci in the BC1F2 population • GbS markers used to select individuals with desired background
Visits to WACCI
Mr. Kofi Annan at the WACCI farm on July 30, 2008
Prof. Sir Gordon Conway at WACCI, November 24, 2011
Lisa Eakman (CCGA ) at WACCI, September 8, 2010
Dr. Julie Howard, Dr. Robert Bertram and Dr. Jerry Glover, USAID, Washington DC, USA at WACCI, January 13, 2012
Management & Associate Faculty
Advisory Board Dr. Eugene Terry, Senior Technical Advisor, TransFarm Africa, Washington DC (Chairman)
Prof. Danquah WACCI
Prof. Coffman Cornell
Prof. Offei CACS
Prof. M. Laing ACCI
Dr. R. Madakadze AGRA
46
Dr Njoya CORAF/WECARD
Looking ahead
Strategic Partnerships
WAAPP Private Seed Companies
NARSs (18 NARIs)
Linkages in the Pipeline •
World Bank-ACE Project - $8 m
•
CORAF/WECARD - 30 PhD students
•
USAID, Ghana Office: Feed the Future project - PhDs for specific crops
•
Seed Science Centre, ISU
•
Centre for Plant Breeding, University of Illinois
•
Mississippi State University
•
DAAD, Germany
•
CIRAD & IPR, France
Key challenges at WACCI and the Digital Revolution •
How we take advantage of the massive information coming out of genotyping platforms
•
How we phenotype our genotypes well
•
How we get each of 49 PhD students in the pipeline on top of their research
The Digital Revolution •
“read” to generate the omic and phenotypic data;
•
“understand” to predict the phenotype from omic data;
•
“use” to design the desired crops.
How can Cornell support WACCI? •
Genotypic selection for accelerated plant breeding
•
Bioinformatics in plant breeding
•
Advanced quantitative genetics in plant breeding
•
Genetic improvement of recalcitrant traits/plants
An endowment fund to sustain WACCI Danquah, E.Y. (2013). Training for the future of food security in West Africa. Heap, R.B. and Bennett, D.J. (eds) 2013. Insights: Africa’s Future…Can Biosciences Contribute? Banson/B4FA. Lavenham Press.
Conclusion Quality plant breeding education is a smart development investment
Acknowledgements Ronnie Coffman • Stephen Kresovich & IGD Team • Stefan Einarson & Cornell Team (The MANN Library) • AGRA • BMGF • The Generation Challenge Program • Mitch Tuinstra & Purdue Team • WACCI Advisory Board • The University of Ghana • Visiting Scientists •
THANK YOU
Source: Malcolm Elliot, The Norman Borlaug Institute
