ACE for Training Plant Breeders, Seed Scientists and Technologists

ACE for Training Plant Breeders, Seed Scientists and Technologists
Crop Science and Botany, WACCI University of Ghana, Legon

Contacts
Prof. Eric Y. Danquah
Emails
edanquah@wacci.edu.gh

Discipline

Agriculture

Key Academic Partners

    National and international partners including:

  • Crop Research Institute of Ghana.
  • Institut de l'Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles (INERA), Burkina Faso
  • Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger (INRAN), Niger
  • National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Nigeria
  • Institut d'Economie Rurale (IER), Mali

Existing Industry/Private Sector Partners

  • Grains Development Board, Kumasi
  • Private Seed Companies (M&B Seeds, Ho; Savannah Seeds, Tamale)

Education/Research/Focus Area

The ACE will train plant breeders, at the PhD level, with expertise to improve the indigenous crops that feed the people of the sub-region. It is expected that WACCI will graduate highly qualified, competent and motivated plant breeders applying the full scope of plant breeding methodologies to address local crop production constraints. This will result in enhanced regional food security through the delivery of superior crop varieties and hybrids that meet the needs of farmers and facilitate a high retention rate of the scientists in Africa to continue crop development. WACCI was conceived from a partnership between the University of Ghana (UG) and Cornell University, USA and is based on the successful model of the African Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI) in South Africa. This model is based on the premise that we can train African Plant Breeders in Africa, who will work on African crops in African environments.