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Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa

Profiles

Across the countries of Africa, women and men are taking bold actions to transform agricultural production on small-scale farms, lift the burden of poverty and hunger, and usher in a new era of prosperity.

Meet Africans whose efforts lay the basis for increased farm production and incomes, improved livelihoods and a prosperous future for Africa.

Students in the field:

Professionals in the field:



ACCI PhD Graduates

Albert Changaya Banda, Ph.D. (Malawi)

ACCI Agricultural PhD Graduate, The University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

 

As Albert Changaya Banda completes his Ph.D. studies on wilt-resistant pigeonpea development at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, his thoughts are geared toward the future. His wife and two young children wait for him in Lilongwe, the capital city, where, following graduation on Monday, April 14, he will resume his work as Chief Estate Extension Officer at the Agricultural Research and Extension Trust.

Dr. Changaya’s passion is agriculture. He has two farms of his own in central Malawi, where he grows maize, tomatoes, beans, and a variety of other crops. But for now, his energies won’t be put toward his own crops but rather the crops of farmers around Malawi.

“I want my work to benefit the other farmers in my country by developing as many varieties as possible,” he said. “I especially want to focus on seed production and distribution.”

Growing up on a farm, Changaya knew that he wanted to study agriculture. “As soon as I had a chance, I enrolled in an agriculture course at Bunda College of Agriculture at the University of Malawi,” he said. “It became a passion for me.” His parents supported his studies, reckoning that it would help him when he returned home to work on the family farm; meanwhile, Changaya decided to pursue his Master’s Degree at Bunda College in plant pathology, focusing on wilt resistance in Malawian pigeonpea, an important grain legume crop that has been cultivated there for at least 3000 years.

Changaya traveled throughout Malawi to collect diseased plants, which he used to isolate the disease pathogen and examine its effects on different varieties of pigeonpea. His results gave direction to breeders in developing resistance to the wilt in Malawian varieties. Upon graduating in 1995, he joined Smallholder Agribusiness Development Project (SADP), where he advised farmers, and three years later he joined the Agricultural Research and Extension Trust. In 2002 he was granted a scholarship to pursue his Ph.D. through the Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI) program at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The program gave him the opportunity to delve into the area he had long wanted to investigate – breeding aspects as control measures for wilt in pigeonpea.

Changaya said Malawi has made big strides in its agricultural sector. Now an exporter of maize, the country has greatly improved its infrastructure and subsidized inputs and marketing tools. “While I was growing up, there was much less support, and farmers weren’t assured of the market. Now the government is supporting agriculture,” he said.

But he still sees areas in need of improvement. “The seed system for small crops like pigeonpea, beans, and sorghum is not very up-to-date in Malawi,” he said. “There has not yet been a great push to produce certified seeds. This is why I want to concentrate on seed distribution. I want to improve the production of pigeonpea, so that it will increase yields and incomes for farmers.”

Changaya’s enthusiasm is infectious. But even with his accomplishments and his focused plans for the future, he has concerns about realizing his dream.

“After graduation, the others and I want to make an impact in our countries, but there has to be an open route to make proposals and access funding in order to continue our work. With funds, we are mobile and can visit farmers and help with distribution,” he said.

In addition to his work on the pigeonpea, he would like to be involved in agricultural workshops that would help farmers to share their knowledge. “I have learned that … the more interaction you have with farmers, the bigger the impact,” he said.

Changaya hopes to eventually retire to one of his farms, but he’s not thinking much about that now. There’s too much work to do – work he hopes will have great benefits for others.



Philip Onyimbo Kwena, Ph.D. (Kenya)

ACCI Agricultural PhD Graduate, The University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

 

Philip Kwena is an optimistic guy and optimism has been a driving force in his life. Born in 1964 in Mumbasa, he grew up on his family’s farm, a large property of eight hectares, in the Busia District of western Kenya.

Thank goodness for the farm’s size, because there were 17 children in his family. Despite the number of people living together, Philip recalls that period of his life as being without many difficulties. Both his father and his mother worked for the government and made sure that all basic needs of the children were met.

Primary and secondary school went by rapidly, and soon he had to make his way to university. Concerned about people’s lives, Philip’s first option was to study medicine, but he fell one point below the minimum score needed to enter medical school. “I don’t regret it – agriculture was my second option and once I plunged into it, I started to be more and more interested and passionate about it – at the end of the day, improving crops is also about helping to make people’s lives better,” he says.

With the same joy he went to Nairobi to study for his Master’s in plant pathology. In this period he also married his wife Nelley, and they now have two boys and two girls. “Good students,” he says proudly. But for Philip, four kids are enough.

In 2003 Philip went to South Africa to study, leaving the family behind. Daily phone calls and his optimistic outlook helped him to get through this period, and he concentrated on learning as much as possible about plant breeding.

Back in Kenya after completing his Ph.D. at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, he now works for the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) on maize resistance to two pathogens: Gray Leaf Spot (GLS) and Phaeosphaeria Leaf Spot (PLS). “We try to create a maize hybrid that can be resistant to these disease-causing microbes, so vast areas of lands in western Kenya can take advantage of it,” he explains. “When we inform farmers about it and the support we have from institutions like AGRA, they are sincerely excited and share our interest.”

There is a grounded motivation for Philip to do this job: “I love my country, I love farms, and I have a lot of respect for farmers. They work very hard and we have to find ways to help them,” he says. In his view, farmers are crucial for crop production to expand and contribute to the alleviation of poverty in Kenya.

In his mostly easy-going life, Philip has also experienced times of distress, one being the recent period when political riots spread in Kenya. He recalls: “During those days I was in the writing period, and although what happened did not affect me or my family directly, I had a very hard time concentrating on what I was doing.” He worries about the disarray in his beloved country, and, with an optimistic outlook, he is dedicated to continuing his hard work for a better future for Kenya.



Philip Kipkoech Leley, Ph.D. (Kenya)

ACCI Agricultural PhD Graduate, The University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

 

Being linked to crops was part of a natural destiny for Philip Kipkoech Leley. He was born in 1964 in Kenya, where farming is the national industry and where his father was a farmer in Kapsabet, as were their ancestors. Philip, along with his brother and sister, grew up surrounded by crops. When the two boys went to university, choosing to study agriculture was part of a life evolution rooted in the land.

Before that, Philip had the opportunity to go to primary and secondary school with the help of a combination of scholarship grants and loans that the family took out to ensure his career. When asked, he cannot remember anything special that inclined him to crop research. “Farming and agriculture are part of the identity of Kenya, what most people do here. There is no need to question it; you are just part of the country tradition,” he says.

Living in South Africa to pursue his Ph.D. at the University of KwaZulu-Natal was sometimes tough. “My family stayed in Kenya, and studying required hard work, but getting what you want requires some sacrifices,” he says. Now he is back in Kenya, in Katomani, Machakos, a few kilometres from the capital of Nairobi. He lives there with his wife, a teacher, and three young children-- two boys and a girl. As for continuing the family tradition, Philip says he will respect whatever career decisions his children make, but farming would certainly be a welcome option.

Philip is currently a researcher with KARI, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, which has the mandate to conduct agricultural research in crops and livestock. KARI also coordinates the activities in several regional research stations.

What Philip does for KARI is extremely relevant to today’s Kenya. “I do research on maize varieties, particularly on maize resistance and tolerance to drought. The land available for the crop is becoming smaller because there is less and less rain –unless we can obtain a drought-resistant maize, we will have problems producing the food we need,” he says. He believes that saving his country’s agriculture and identity and ensuring food security for people go hand in hand.

The recent political riots in Kenya did not directly affect Philip’s work. ”What happened was an exception. The country is stable, and my choice and my desire are to stay here and to contribute to the future of the country. This may at times entail sacrifice, but I am farmer – a researcher and a farmer- and this is where I want to be.”



David Mariote, Ph.D. (Mozambique)

ACCI Agricultural PhD Graduate, The University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

 

Seeding is the obsession of family man David Mariote: seed production, seed distribution and seed improvement for his country, Mozambique. Today Mozambique lacks that fundamental agricultural industry, making the entire crop cycle very fragile. This is why David, head of some of the country’s most important plant research institutions, has decided to focus all his efforts on strengthening the seed system.

He doesn’t like to see people suffering from lack of food, something he saw frequently as a child in Metangula, Niassa province, in northern Mozambique. Like many across the region, his parents were too poor to care for their children. In fact, David was on a boarding regimen in an Anglican mission until he was five, when he returned to live with his family on the farm.

He went to primary school with the support of the mission, and to high school with a grant from the government. After that, he was the only one of his siblings (three boys and one girl, plus another one who passed away) able to go to university.

He was the youngest and his coming of age coincided with the coming of age of Mozambique. Thanks to the new independence, Mozambiquans were eligible to attend university for the first time. David was a member of this new generation.

Having been raised in a rural area, agriculture was David’s first choice for study. In 1985 he received his first degree at the National Research Institute of Agronomy of the Eduardo Mondale University. Following graduation he returned to his native province to apply his new knowledge.

Why the rush? “There was hunger in the area, and my first impulse was to go to try to do something about it,” he says. “This is where I come from, and I wanted to do my best to contribute to food security for people.”

Then the civil war commenced and Mozambique became unstable and dangerous. He was able to travel with his family to Brazil and continue his studies, obtaining a Master’s degree in plant breeding at São Paulo University.

After the war he went back to his country, to Sussundenga, in the central region. He was shocked. “The war had devastated the land and we had to restart from zero,” he recalls.

After working on crop reconstruction for some time, another opportunity arose: to pursue a Ph.D. in South Africa. For the first time, David would be alone, without his family, for an extended period. But all family members understood the importance of this next step for David and for Mozambique, and they encouraged him. On 14 April 2008, he received his Ph.D. degree at the KwaZulu-Natal University.

Now he is 42, with children ranging from 13 to 19 years in age. His wife is studying law, preparing to embark on a second career after her first one as a veterinarian. David still loves two basic things: his family and his country.

After analyzing maize varieties resistant to infections, David now wants to use his influential position as head of Agricultural Research, to create a seed production system. “Seeds are a basic part of the crop cycle. Once we have resistant maize varieties, we have to convince people that seed mass production is good and can be a business benefiting everyone,” he repeats passionately.

“I don’t want to see children raised without their parents because of poverty or hunger, as happened to me, and this is my motivation for ensuring the success of the crop cycle.”



Francisco Miti, Ph.D. (Zambia)

ACCI Agricultural PhD Graduate, The University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

 

Francisco Miti aims to help plants grow and reach their full production potential. In Zambia, where he was born and currently lives and works, a normally good climate for agriculture is threatened by drought, and low levels of soil nitrogen also limit the yield of small-scale farmers, who are the vast majority of Zambia’s population. Francisco has dedicated himself to finding the solutions for these farming constraints.

Born in 1964 at a village called Nyanda in Chipata district, the provincial headquarters of the Eastern Province of Zambia, Francisco’s father, Lorent, was Catechist in the Roman Catholic Church. His mother, Felida, was a house wife. He had five sisters and one brother, and they depended on subsistence farming for their livelihoods.

Francisco had the opportunity to go to primary and secondary school because of Zambia’s Free Education Policy, which supported every child in acquiring education. Later, he obtained a government scholarship to support his university education. This is how Francisco obtained his first degree, BSc Agriculture Science, from the University of Zambia.

He wanted to study agriculture because he saw that many people depended on it, yet remained largely food insecure. “I wanted to contribute to increasing their agricultural production,” he says.

After working with the Ministry of Agriculture’s department of Seed Control and Certification Institute (SCCI), Francisco obtained a scholarship from the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) and obtained the Masters of Science degree in Seed Technology at the Edinburgh University in the United Kingdom (UK).

From there, he coordinated seed multiplication programs for the country’s rural smallholder farmers. These programs, supported by a variety of international donors, were aimed at alleviating hunger and poverty by ensuring seed security to the poor in rural areas.

When Francisco went to South Africa to study for his PhD he was already married to Meya, and had two girls and one boy. They could not accompany him, but visits helped the family to cope with the distance.

Now he is back in Zambia. “I feel very nice being back at home. Researching in my local environment encourages me to work hard and contribute to addressing a real problem,” he explains.

From his current position as Chief Seeds Officer at the Seed Control and Certification Institute (SCCI), he argues that Zambia has very good climatic conditions for crop production, but that farmers need help from scientists. He believes that the provision of varieties tolerant to drought and to low soil nitrogen will increase the productivity of the majority of farmers.

“However, we should not only target developing improved varieties but also an effective way for the same to reach the numerous farmers in rural areas who are separated by poor infrastructure,” he says.

True success would benefit the entire country and enable Zambia to export food, he reasons.



Clare Mukankusi, Ph.D. (Uganda)

ACCI Agricultural PhD Graduate, The University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

 

Clare was born in Mbarara district in southwestern Uganda 32 years ago. She is a wife and the mother of two children, and, as of 14 April 2008, Clare has a Ph.D. in plant breeding.

Food security is a repeated theme when talking to Clare. “We have to do all we can to improve food security in Uganda, to reduce malnutrition and mitigate its impact,” she says. She expects that all she has learned in her Ph.D. studies from the Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, can be applied in her country so that farmers’ livelihoods can be improved.

The path to her Ph.D. was not easy. When Clare was five, her mother, a teacher, died in a motor accident. Her father, a medical laboratory technician, had to take care of Clare and her four siblings, three girls and one boy, and it wasn’t easy for any of them.

Thanks to her mother’s best friend, Mrs. Mary Kabasomi Amooti, who was very firm about the need for all five children to study and have careers, they had the opportunity to access scholarships from different institutions, including the Save the Children’s fund. However, even with the scholarships, it was difficult for their father to avail the family of basic necessities like food and clothing. Despite their circumstances, they were all good students and persevered under the hard conditions, and all five of them made it to Makerere University.

But for a girl like Clare in a gender-unbalanced society, going on to the superior school levels was a real challenge, especially as other family members did not see it as a priority. Clare’s first choice was to become a medical doctor, to contribute to people’s lives through healing, but she wasn’t able to gain access to the field. Then she thought about agriculture-- why not? -- this was another important way to improve the life conditions of the country’s people.

Now she is very happy she made the choice to study crops. Clare has developed a great knowledge and passion for common beans. “Beans have a lot of nutritious advantages,” she says. “They have high levels of protein, for instance. It is important to explain to farmers that by growing beans they can get a good level of food supply as well as income.” Beans can provide protein more cheaply than via animal protein, so Clare believes they are better in contributing to food security.

“Thanks to my degree, I can now motivate others, propose and evaluate programs targeting the rural poor and suggest modifications for improvement. This is what I wanted to do,” she explains.

Her current work at the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Kampala, Uganda, is a unique platform for her to make real that mission to investigate and develop more and better varieties of beans and other crops that may be easily adopted by farmers. She works to contribute to food security, to improve access to newly improved varieties, and to make sure farmers’ abilities to access and utilise new and advantageous technologies are in constant progress.

Clare is confident that with the support from different stakeholders, more Ugandans, and particularly more women, would invest their careers in crop research. “Being a woman in this field hasn’t been easy – many of my female colleagues gave up because of family responsibilities, for instance,” she concludes. “I would like to encourage research centres and universities to create women-friendly environments, and donors specifically to support women getting involved in agriculture and development.” Certainly, the future of countries such as Uganda is in good hands with people like Clare.



Martin Orawu (Uganda)

ACCI Agricultural PhD Graduate, The University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

 

Martin Orawu could talk for hours without interruption about his job improving cowpea resistance to plant diseases. He passionately offers all kinds of technical details and in-depth descriptions on how his work is crucial for Ugandan farmers to have better crop options.

Born in a village in eastern Uganda in March 1973, Martin has always wanted to do things as fast and as perfectly as possible. This may be related to the fact that his father –who just passed away last year - was a teacher dealing with four boys: Martin and his brothers (one of them also passed away). Being the youngest, Martin was stimulated to pursue his own vision about life.

This strong personality was very helpful when he was sent to a boarding secondary school. It was an experience that led him to think hard about the life he wanted. By 1997, Martin was already married and his career in agriculture was about to start. Today, with two boys and a girl, he is proud of his education, having completed a Master’s in plant pathology and a Ph.D. in agricultural studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Over the years he accessed different grants and scholarships, including support from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

Throughout his years of study, Martin missed his family, despite their frequent phone calls. “Plus I had to work hard all day. It has been a real challenge, but I managed with their constant support,” Martin says.

Today he concentrates on detecting, understanding and finding ways to prevent cowpea infection from a type of plant pathogen called aphid-borne mosaic virus. Eastern and southern Uganda is where cowpea is mostly grown, and this virus is deadly for the crop, causing serious problems for farmers, for the food supply, and for people who rely on this product as part of their basic daily protein intake.

Martin is enthusiastic about his findings in cowpea research and the virus that attacks it: “We have done a series of experiments crossing local and foreign varieties of cowpea, inoculating them with the virus, and seeing how the most resistant varieties can be selected,” he details. “We went to farmers in each of the selected counties and checked with them on their perceptions of the new varieties’ colour and size, factors that are crucial for the new varieties to be accepted by farmers.”

“Do you see yourself as a plant doctor?” I asked him, to use an analogy the general public could easily understand. “Yes,” he replied. “We treat cowpea to make it resistant to a deadly virus so that farmers can improve their crops.”

“What I am most interested in is that my knowledge and the studies I’ve done have practical consequences. It is very important for my country at the end of the day that all we have learned throughout the years can be used on the ground; otherwise it will have no impact.”



Geoffrey Kananji, Ph.D. (Malawi)

ACCI Agricultural PhD Graduate, The University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

 

Each year, dry bean farmers in Malawi have high hopes that new varieties will yield a generous harvest. While these new varieties are high yielding, many are attacked by pests. Bruchids, which destroy the food value and the quality of the seed, are often the worst.

Geoffrey Kananji wants to change that. He recently earned his Ph.D. in the agricultural program at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, which was sponsored by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

“Bean breeding programs in Malawi have come up with good high-yielding varieties, but when farmers store the harvest, storage pests come and destroy the crop,’’ Kananji said. “If farmers try to take the infested bean seeds to the market, buyers run away from them because they are no longer appealing--the market value is lost.”

Kananji’s work focused on one pest – the bruchid beetle. When he began his Ph.D. work, he chose to study bruchid resistance in dry beans, one of the most important crops in Malawi. He often heard small-scale farmers complain of the pest.

“The dry bean is very important in terms of nutritional value, because of its high protein content, and as a cash crop,’’ he said. “Eighty percent of Malawian farmers are small-holders, and they need this crop for their diet and to boost their incomes. But I remembered farmers saying that after storing their beans, the entire crop would be lost to the bruchid within three months if no protective measures were applied. So I thought, `If I am going to work on the dry bean, why not look at a problem that has challenged so many farmers?’ ”

Kananji has a strong background in legume crops. His Master’s was on Conservation and Utilisation of Plant Genetic Resources, and the research was focused on understanding seed dormancy problems in selected grass species. After those studies, he became the head of seed certification and quality control based at the Chitedze Agricultural Research Station in Lilongwe. He is currently the National Research Coordinator for Legumes, Fibres and Oilseed crops in Malawi.

“When I was young, my mother and father were actively involved with farming, and during holidays from school I would help them,” he said. When it was time for university, he chose an agricultural institution that allowed him to focus on research, his greatest passion. “Malawi being an agricultural country, prospects were very high. I knew that if I studied agriculture, the future would open up for me,’’ he said.

Now equipped with his Ph.D., Kananji wants to continue research to develop bruchid-resistant bean varieties for subsistence farmers in Malawi. He also wants to inspire a movement in which farmers become actively involved in the research process.

“I think research should involve farmers from the beginning stage until the final product is generated,’’ Kananji said. ”They are often less involved in technology generation, and in the final analysis, new varieties are not chosen by farmers since they were not consulted. If good varieties are developed, and they are what farmers are looking for, the market will fall into place.”

Reflecting on how his studies will contribute to his long-term goals, Kananji said he thinks of himself and his classmates as pioneers – they have made mistakes, made improvements, and are all working toward the goal of bringing the benefits of breeding work to small-scale farmers.

“We aren’t doing this to please politicians or donors but to make sure that small farmers actually benefit from any technology that we develop,’’ he said. ”I would like to see the welfare of the small farmer in Malawi really improve, and I want to contribute to that.”



WACCI PhD Students

  • Moses Adeolu Adebayo (Nigeria), WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon
  • Issaka Ahmadou (Niger), WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon
  • Mamadou Ibrahim Aissata (Niger), WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon
  • Solomon Gyan Ansah (Ghana), WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon
  • Maxwell Darko Asante (Ghana), WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon
  • Mamadou Coulibaly (Mali), WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon
  • Some Koussao (Burkina Faso), WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon
  • Ndubuisi Damian Njoku (Nigeria), WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon

Moses Adeolu Adebayo (Nigeria)

WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon

 

"I have to contribute my quota for humanity, for my country. I see it more as a calling than a mere academic pursuit."

When Moses Adeolu Adebayo was a boy in the western part of Nigeria, he remembers trailing his father all day long. They spent hours together in the fields, where father taught son everything he knew about farming.

"I grew up in the village, and we were always involved in raising crops – cocoa, maize, yam, oil palm," Moses said. "I was always on the farm with my father, planting, harvesting, just watching him."

Moses said his father didn't just show him the routines of farming determined by the seasons, but that he "taught me the art of agriculture."

That meant, for instance, that instead of planting two seeds of maize together in a raised bed as most farmers did, father and son would plant four in a hole – and later go back and thin out the weakest stands.

Now, as Moses enters his first year at the AGRA-sponsored doctorate program at the University of Ghana, Legon, he reflects on his own roots – and where he wants to go.

He was the fifth of seven children to his parents, growing up in the town of Modakeke. Of his siblings, he was the only one to go to university, eventually earning his master's degree in plant breeding research at the University of Ibadan.

"A lot of factors contributed to why I went to university and my siblings did not," he said. "I was determined, but also I was lucky. I found my way through somehow. Others dropped out, but I made up my mind I was going to do it."

Moses became a lecturer at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in Ogbomoso in western Nigeria, teaching genetics and plant breeding. For his doctorate studies, he will do genetic analyses of cytoplasmic and maternal effects on maize seed vigor. In other words, he will look to breed more productive maize seeds.

"I have to contribute my quota for humanity, for my country," he said. "I see it more as a calling than a mere academic pursuit."

Moses, 37, a devout Christian who is married to Mojisola Adewunmi with three children, said he fervently believes that "God has helped me get here." His father, Adebayo Alpheus, died several years ago. If his father were alive, Moses believes he would be so pleased – a son teaching the father about farming. ``He would be proud of me," Moses said. "He would be praying for me."



Issaka Ahmadou (Niger)

WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon

 

"I've always loved agriculture. I have worked in the fields as a boy with just my arms, nothing else, with no modern instruments. It is very hard work. Most people still work this way. I hope to help them and give them something to take to the fields."

Issaka Ahmadou was born to farmers in a small village called Faram on the southern lip of Niger, some 800 kilometers east of the capital, Niamey. His mother gave birth to 11 children. Ahmadou was her sixth. Five died, four in childbirth.

His father, whose name was Issaka, refused to send his children to school. Like many in the area, he said the primary school was a "white man's school" that should be avoided; no whites were physically present at the school, but everyone called it the school of the whites because the French, during the colonial period, built it.

But when Ahmadou was seven years old, the school teachers told the village chief that all seven-year-olds must attend class that year. The teachers were powerful and the obedient chief carried their message from home to home. Ahmadou's parents sent him, and him alone, to school the next day.

When Ahmadou returned from the first day of classes, his entire family came out to greet him.

"All my sisters were crying because they put me in school," he remembers now, 34 years later. "I said, ‘Why are you crying?' They said, ‘You are going to school now.' I was just a boy, so I didn't understand anything. I told them I just was going to school to play."

He finished primary school, then secondary school, and then earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at universities. Now the only child of Issaka from Faram who went to school is one of eight AGRA-sponsored researchers beginning doctorate studies at the University of Ghana, Legon.

Ahmadou sometimes wonders about his fortune, and the ill fortune of his brothers and sisters. But he doesn't think twice about the nature of his work, and why he decided to study crop sciences.

As a researcher for the National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRAN) in Kollo, south of Niamey, he has been working on breeding new varieties of millet for the last four or five years. Millet is a staple food in Niger, but the yield is very low – about 400 to 500 kilograms per hectare.

Ahmadou, who is married with three children and a fourth on the way, now hopes to breed a more productive millet seed. If he succeeds, he knows it will help most of his country – farmers comprise 80% of Niger's workforce – and it will help his family, too.

His family grows millet, sorghum, and beans. "I've always loved agriculture. I have worked in the fields as a boy with just my arms, nothing else, with no modern instruments. It is very hard work. Most people still work this way. I hope to help them and give them something to take to the fields."



Mamadou Ibrahim Aissata (Niger)

WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon

 

"Niger is very poor, and about 80 percent of the people living there are farmers. I feel it is my responsibility to do something to contribute, and I believe I can do that through my work in agriculture."

Mamadou Ibrahim Aissata is no stranger to breaking new ground. She is the oldest of five children born to her parents in Niger. She was one of the first female researchers at the National Institute for Agronomic Research in Niamey, the capital. And now she is the only woman in the first class of eight AGRA-sponsored researchers studying at the University of Ghana, Legon.

"For me, if you have a good background, it is not a problem being a woman in this field," Aissata said. "After all, it is not physical work. It is intellectual work."

At Niger's institute for agronomic research, which has about 50 scientists, Aissata is one of about six female researchers. Her area of focus is genetic improvement of sorghum. For her doctorate studies, she will look at ways of breeding new varieties of sorghum to improve crop yields for farmers.

She grew up along the southern tier of Niger, near the border of Nigeria in the commercial market hub of Maradi, which is 700 kilometers east (a nine-hour bus ride) of Niamey. She lived with her aunt and uncle, a trader who sold everything from crops to salt.

Aissata, 43, a widow who does not have children, attended undergraduate school in Russia. She earned her master's degree in biotechnology and crops improvement at the University of Cocody in Cote d' Ivoire.

Her focus now, she said, is to help her country.

"Niger is very poor, and about 80 percent of the people living there are farmers. I feel it is my responsibility to do something to contribute, and I believe I can do that through my work in agriculture."

She said she has high expectations of herself. Perhaps, she said, she can discover or create new varieties with farmers that will thrive with little water, or be resistant to a wide range of pests and disease. "Who knows?" Aissata said. "I hope the work I will do will benefit farmers in Niger, and maybe all of West Africa. It is important for me to try to do this."



Solomon Gyan Ansah (Ghana)

WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon

 

"I've realized that I would like to produce my quota. What can I contribute to my country? That is my thought, that is my challenge."

In Ghana, the price for meat and fish is too expensive for many people. That means some suffer from lack of protein in their diet. But Solomon Gyan Ansah believes he has one answer that can help solve this problem: develop a better cowpea.

Gyan, 39, was the fifth of six children to a mother who was a primary school teacher and a father who helped oversee the inspection of cocoa produced in Ghana to obtain the best quality. Now mid-career, he sees himself as being on a mission. Agricultural advances, he said, could vastly improve the lives of people in his country.

"If you talk about food security in Ghana, the prices of meats and fish are very high," he said. "Protein from fish and meat are essential to the body, but proteins from a plant source are also very helpful. If we make those proteins more widely available, and combine that with cereals we are producing for our people, it will help immensely."

Solomon studied crop science and then earned a master's degree in maize breeding at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He has worked at the Crop Services Directorate at the Ministry of Agriculture. For the last several years, he has been a Legumes Commodity Officer, inspecting crops, conducting research, and giving presentations to committees that oversee the production of legumes in Ghana.

For much of his work, he is out in the field, talking with farmers and learning their issues. For the last five to 10 years, farmers in the North, especially the Upper West Region of Builsa, have been dramatically hurt by Cercospora leafspot disease that has sharply reduced cowpea yields to about 0.7 tons per hectare. That cut the cowpea production by roughly half compared to previous years.

"I would like this project to equip me with conventional and molecular plant breeding tools, to increase those yields," he said. "I want to focus on finding a cowpea that is high yield as well as resistant to pests and diseases."

For Solomon, the potential reward is great – for everyone in Ghana and perhaps beyond. "I've realized that I would like to produce my quota. What can I contribute to my country? That is my thought, that is my challenge."



Maxwell Darko Asante (Ghana)

WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon

 

"This is my dream come true. I want to do so well that the impact is felt for the poor people all around Ghana and Africa. I see a lot of hungry people still around. I believe I am well-placed to help them."

For Maxwell Darko Asante, a rice breeder from Ghana, his motivation to learn more about crops stems in part from his secondary school years in the eastern town of Akropong-Akuapem.

Maxwell, whose father was a secondary school English teacher and mother was a primary school teacher, remembers one of his teachers, Aboa Offei, who inspired him. "He was a very practical agriculture teacher," Maxwell said. "We would go to the school farm, and he told us the process of raising the seed beds, and growing things like cabbage, tomato, and pepper."

He also had memorable experiences around his family's dinner table. "My dad and mum always tried to help people," he said. "We were living on the school campus, and so many of his students were coming to our home to eat. The food from the dining hall was not enough."

Maxwell earned a bachelor's degree in general agriculture at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, where he also obtained a diploma in education. He then chose to do his national service at the Crops Research Institute (CRI) in Kumasi between 1998 and 1999. From 2000, he was employed as a research assistant at Resource and Crop Management Division of the CRI. From 2002 to 2004, he earned his master's degree in plant breeding at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi.

From 2005, he started his work as a rice breeder at the CRI. He was a Generation Challenge Program Fellowship winner in 2006; the fellowship took him to Cornell University to learn marker-assisted selection with special emphasis on selecting for fragrance in rice.

For his AGRA-sponsored work at the University of Ghana, Legon, he hopes to continue his work on breeding for rice varieties with excellent cooking, eating, and nutritional qualities. Ghanaian rice farmers, who mostly use just three commercial varieties of rice, produce just 30 percent of the rice consumed in the country. Maxwell hopes that his research helps expand rice farming in Ghana and improves consumer acceptability of locally produced rice.

"This is my dream come true," he said as he started classes. "I want to do so well that the impact is felt for the poor people all around Ghana and Africa. I see a lot of hungry people still around. I believe I am well-placed to help them."



Mamadou Coulibaly (Mali)

WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon

 

"Farmers have the information that is vital to our success. We should never put a farmer's knowledge in the trash. It is worth gold. They know the earth, they know the weather, and they know the plant."

Mamadou Coulibaly, 43, is the son of a civil servant and stay-at-home mother. He has five brothers and six sisters. Both parents encouraged him to study. His mother, one of two wives, had no education and did not understand what her children were studying. "She made sure we did our homework as soon as we got home from school, even though she had never gone to school herself," he said.

He became interested in seeds as a little kid, and collected them, including fruits, crops, and grasses. He dried them in the sun, and planted them at the start of the next growing season "just to see what would happen."

His parents encouraged him in agricultural studies, just because he seemed to have a passion for it. He studied biological sciences in the Lycee in Mali, received his bachelor's degree, then left for Tunisia, where he spent eight years. He received his undergraduate degree in agricultural sciences from the Ecole Supérieure d'Agriculture in Kef, and then took an entrance exam that gave him a fellowship to the National Institute of Agronomy in Tunis, where he spent four years. He learned about experimental farm techniques for building stress resistance in wheat hybrids, in particular in relation to drought. "I learned good selection methods and started to find ways of bringing out the best in a plant," he said.

In 1998, Mamadou returned to Mali, where he began working on the country's sorghum program. His job was to help improve the yield of Mali's farmers throughout the country by encouraging them to adopt new hybrids.

"The most important job was to integrate the farmers into the work I was doing. I spent a lot of time talking to them," said Mamadou, who is married with three children. "I found that the farmers have the information that is vital to our success. We should never put a farmer's knowledge in the trash. It is worth gold. They know the earth, they know the weather, and they know the plant."

In Mamadou's view, farmers have to play an integral part of a country's agriculture strategy. "I came from the outside with my new knowledge and I had to earn their trust," he said. "It took about five or six years of work with the farmers throughout the country to introduce new hybrids, but it had to be done with their input, because they knew what would work and what would not."

"Mali is a beautiful country with many fertile lands, but we can't take advantage of them without the proper agricultural policies that will allow the land and the people to flourish. This is beginning to happen but it must not stop now."

At the University of Ghana, Legon, he hopes to learn more efficient techniques for developing hybrids. Afterward, he will return to Mali for a three-year project to apply the lessons from his studies.

"With a good hybrid we can boost a yield three or four times," he said. "This can have a dramatic impact on the people of our country."



Some Koussao (Burkina Faso)

WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon

 

"I know the problem with the sweet potato. Now I hope to find the solution."

Many agronomists spend much of their careers studying one crop. Some Koussao has already deeply examined the characteristics of three – the onion, tomato, and okra – and now is poised to learn more about a fourth, the sweet potato.

Some, a 40-year-old father of two from Burkina Faso, hopes that his AGRA-sponsored doctorate research at the University of Ghana, Legon, will help unlock secrets about the sweet potato in order to expand the range of the crop into areas with less rainfall.

Since 1999, Some has been a researcher at the Institut de l'environnement et des recherches agricoles, or INERA, based in the capital Ouagadougou and one of the four research institutes of the National Centre for Science and Technology. He also spent two-and-a-half years as a natural sciences teacher.

He was born in the southwestern part of Burkina Faso, the fourth of 14 children to his father, who has three wives. His parents grew a wide variety of crops on their farm: sorghum, millet, maize, yams, ground nuts, soybeans, and cotton. Cotton was their cash crop. They ate everything else.

"I am a son of agriculture," Some said. "I was always helping my father in the fields."

Some, who along with his wife and children has been living in Ouagadougou (pronounced waga-doo-goo), worked in several departments at INERA. His specialty was looking at the effects that different types of fertilizer were having on crops.

But he became interested in sweet potatoes after talking with farmers and hearing their frequent complaints about low yields.

Burkina Faso, he learned, does not have a single researcher specializing on tuberous plants. After he finishes his doctorate, he could be the first.

"Over the last five years, I've heard a lot from farmers. They are not assisted," he said. "Every year, we have organized a ceremony for farmers growing sweet potato, and every year, we hear that the lack of varieties is a problem. Farmers say, ‘We want to grow a good sweet potato, but we have been using the same variety as our ancestors.'"

Now, he hopes to develop new varieties that could grow in the south and central parts of Burkina Faso, which have less rainfall than other parts of the country. "I know the problem with the sweet potato," he said. "Now I hope to find the solution."



Ndubuisi Damian Njoku (Nigeria)

WACCI Agricultural PhD student at the University of Ghana, Legon

 

"We have to feed our people. We must work hard to feed others. I see this as contributing my own quarter to Nigeria nation building."

At first, Ndubuisi Damian Njoku's mother didn't understand why her son would bother studying agriculture in the university. She had always expected him to become a medical doctor.

But when Ndubuisi, who grew up in southeastern Nigeria, started explaining how his work could improve the well-being of people by giving them better access to nutritious foods, her perspective changed.

"Now she understands the benefits of my research," said Ndubuisi of his mother, who grows cassava, yam, cocoyam, and vegetables on her farm. "She's happy I am going into new areas to help mankind." He is the fourth of eight children in his family. His father, a trader, died two years ago.

Ndubuisi, 34 and married, received his master's degree in crop physiology at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture in Umudike. He has worked for five years as a junior scientist in the cassava program at the National Roots Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, in Abia state.

In his job, he has worked on genetic improvement of root and tuber crops – using both conventional and molecular approaches – that aim to develop more drought-resistant varieties. He will focus on one such crop, cassava, as an AGRA scholar at the University of Ghana, Legon.

"I want to see if I can breed cassava varieties that will do well in areas of low rainfall in Nigeria," he said. "In Nigeria, we have an abundance of unused land for agriculture, but those lands are mostly in the semi-arid region of the north."

From his perspective, such projects are natural for Nigeria – Africa's most populous country, which has an agricultural industry that hasn't kept pace with such growth.

"We have to feed our people," he said. "We must work hard to feed others. I see this as contributing my own quarter to Nigeria nation building."

 

Professionals from the field

Mrs. Dinnah Kapiza

Agro-dealer, Mponela, Malawi


Mrs. Dinna Kapiza

“The farmers usually come on bicycles, sometimes they come on foot. Most people come from far distances, 10 km (six miles) away.”

Mrs. Dinnah Kapiza has transformed her used clothing business into a full-line farming supply store in rural Malawi that is now critical to the success of poor farmers in her region. She opened her store in 2002 with an initial investment of MWK$20,000.00 (Malawian kwacha, equivalent to US$310.00). Today her “agro-dealer” business serves about 600 small-scale farmers within a 15 kilometre (9 mile) radius, selling seeds, farm tools, crop protection products and fertiliser—and dispensing crucial advice. The mother of 10 children, Mrs. Kapiza employs six young people and also works for a local nonprofit that assists orphans and vulnerable children. Her store turns over MWK$5 million (US$36,800) worth of farm supplies every year.

Here, Mrs. Kapiza talks about her community, her life and work.

For the past 10-11 years Malawi has had really serious hunger. Even if food was available, people were unable to buy it. They were going into the bush to take wild yams. They would collect anything they could lay their hands on. It was poisonous. Some people died of eating those. But people will eat anything when they are hungry. It affected many people, for many people are ill, and the pangs of hunger are still there. Now farmers are trying to keep their harvested food safe until the nest season. Things are a little better now than last year. So we are trying to bring the African Green Revolution and continue that here in Malawi.

I wanted to become an agro-dealer after seeing that most peasant farmers were unable to access farm supplies. Also, I wanted to make a successful business. My husband passed away in 1999. I have 10 kids, five boys and five girls. Most are now grownups, but three are still in school and my youngest son is 12.

When CNFA (Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs, an NGO) came with a proposal, I jumped at that chance. CNFA provided a guaranteed supply of products. They provided training in business management and in the types of seed and of fertiliser to use. Sometimes we work hand-in-hand with government extension agents.

The farmers usually come on bicycles, sometimes they come on foot. Most people come from far distances, 10 km (six miles) away. It’s the men who come to buy. Customers come for help whenever they have questions concerning a crop or crop failure, and I have to explain how it works. They come when the rains fail, or when some pests eat their crops.

I like helping poor farmers in the villages. I also help orphans and vulnerable children. I can buy them books, and I help them through employing them. In my shop, I am keeping one orphan. She has no father and no mother, as they both died of AIDS, and she is taking care of three young sisters. She is now 18 and she’s selling in my shop. She was able to continue her education.

I advised one farmer to change from tobacco growing and to start growing tomatoes. He purchased a MWK$1500.00 (US$11.00) packet of tomato seed. When he came back the next time, he said ‘Well that packet has really assisted me.’ He sold his tomatoes at MWK$20,000, and was able to exchange tomatoes for maize. There is good news. His family is able now to buy most things they need, like soap and salt, and to pay the school fees.

All that I have done is through God’s mercy, and also because I try to manage my time properly: family, work, helping others, managing business, tending my own garden—all of it.



Mrs. Bernadette Mwikali Kioko

Farmer, Ukambani, Kenya


Mrs. Bernadette Mwikali Kioko

“Maize is our staple food, and we have not identified any other source of income from plants to sell, so we continue planting maize.”

The rolling hills outside the market town of Machakos are remarkably green at this time of year following soaking rains. But Bernadette Mwikali Kioko still keeps an anxious eye on the clear blue sky for signs of moisture-bearing clouds. This southeastern region of Kenya, known as Ukambani, lies in a borderline area where rainfall has grown increasingly erratic, making life for the small-scale farmers of maize and beans ever more precarious.

“Maize is our staple food, and we have not identified any other source of income from plants to sell, so we continue planting maize,” says Mrs. Kioko, a 67-year-old retired registered nurse who farms with her husband John.

In addition to maize, beans, cassava, millet and sweet potatoes, the Kiokos and other farmers in the area have tried growing coffee and macadamia nuts. But when the market went down or the rains failed, they pulled up one and planted another in an attempt to beat the odds. In the end, the process proved too laborious to be worthwhile.

Among the toughest challenges are having affordable transportation to get her produce to market, safe storage from an assortment of pests, and a regular supply of water. Mrs. Kioko has a power pump to get water from the river, but fuel often makes it too expensive to run.

Despite the difficulties, Mrs. Kioko loves farming and especially her Friesian milk cow Kawembe. She also belongs to a women’s group through which the 32 members work to help each other improve their farming methods. One of their goals is to see that each member has installed a tank for harvesting rainwater. Bernadette Kioko already has two, in addition to a well.

Deciding when to sell their maize crop is a major problem for farmers in Ukambani. The government-run National Cereals and Produce Board is offering as much as 1,300 shillings ($US 19.40) a sack, but Mrs. Kioko says they usually don’t have cash and give IOUs instead. And the farmers have to arrange to transport their maize to the government depots that are often long distances away over poor roads.

Private dealers go to the farms to collect the maize, but they are only offering an average of 750 shillings (US$ 11.20) a sack. And if they don’t sell it, the farmers have to store their maize under rudimentary conditions that expose the cobs to the ravages of the common weevil and the larger grain borer, known here as “Osama.” It burrows its way through maize kernels, leaving them hollow in no time.

“Farmers sell their maize cheaper and sooner so they don’t have to store it and worry about getting Osama,” says Mrs. Kioko.

She uses a mix of seeds that include her own, and improved seed from the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) through its Katumani research station. But Mrs. Kioko also thinks that an African Green Revolution should promote the training of more agricultural extension agents and support frequent farm visits “to provide more education on methodology.” And she would welcome organised visits to the farms of colleagues who have been particularly successful. “Learning alone doesn’t work well; it’s better to go to see successful farmers and learn from them,” she says.



Dr. Jane Ininda

Plant Scientist, Nairobi, Kenya
Programme Officer, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)


Dr. Jane Ininda

“Farmers aren’t always looking for the highest yielding varieties. In fact, taste is usually most important.”

Dr. Jane Ininda has worked with African farmers to develop some 26 distinct maize varieties resistant to pests and diseases. Dr. Ininda led the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute’s (KARI) Genetics and Physiology Research Programme and Ecosystem Breeding Project before becoming an AGRA Programme Officer. The daughter of poor farmers near Embu, Kenya, Dr. Ininda was one of the first in her village to go to school. Dr. Ininda studied agriculture and plant breeding at the University of Nairobi and earned a Ph.D. at Iowa State University. Today, she is a programme officer with AGRA.

Here, Dr. Ininda talks about her life and work.

I grew up farming maize. In Embu, near where I grew up, the weather could be very erratic. I remember times when I was growing up where we would get a successful crop once every five seasons. There were many times when I was small that we really did not have food.

My family were peasant farmers—they grew traditional crops for food only. There was no surplus to sell for money with which to buy clothing or pay for education. The most critical thing was to have food for the family. And so, at that time, there were very few people who were educated. My parents never went to school. There were no schools.

In the early 1960's, the missionaries came and set up a school. My father wanted us to go to school and he also wanted to be an example. It was good luck that my parents put education as a priority. They forgot everything else to send their kids to school. In the back of our minds, we knew that if you go to school you can change your life around.

Going to school was not easy. I am sure you have seen the children in the school; they just do not have shoes. Even now, there are still families who cannot even afford shoes for their children.

I came to the University of Nairobi where I studied general agriculture and started to develop a focus on plant breeding after my first year. I went on to get my M.Sc. (Master of Science) in Plant Breeding where I focused on crops like maize, wheat, soybean, grain amaranthus, and other local vegetables.

Maize production faces a lot of problems in Africa. The first constraint is low soil fertility. There is also a lack of improved seed because farmers don't have the right variety for the right environment. There are problems in marketing, and problems with pests and diseases.

I am using the conventional way of breeding to prevent attacks by pests and diseases. We are trying to help crops achieve their genetic potential. After we get a few successful varieties, we set up one-day meetings with farmers, seed companies and plant breeders to evaluate farmer preferences. Farmers aren’t always looking for the highest yielding varieties. In fact, taste is usually most important. Ugali (cornmeal porridge) is a food staple in Kenya and the highest yielding variety doesn’t mean it makes good ugali. Maybe they are looking for sweet maize, which is good for roasting on the streets.

So if you have an interaction between you and the farmer, you will come to learn what the farmer really wants. And that way it is easier to really change their livelihood, by incorporating their interests.

Working with farmers, Dr. Jane Ininda’s programme is breeding 100 maize hybrids in this field. These may yield 20 varieties resistant to the devastating streak virus. “And we may end up with five varieties that we can get out to farmers,” says Dr. Ininda.

Compiled from an interview conducted for AGRA, and an interview conducted for the KCTS public television programme “Silent Killer: The Unfinished Campaign Against Hunger.”