The new African Plant Breeding Academy has opened in Nairobi, Kenya with the aim of improving the livelihoods of Africa’s smallholder farmers and their families, reducing hunger and boosting Africa’s food supply.

The work of the academy will generate improved planting materials that will be offered to smallholder farmers throughout Africa.

Over 5 years, the 250 plant breeders and technicians will be trained at the academy in genomics and marker-assisted selection for crop improvement.

The academy is an initiative of the African Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCC). Orphan crops include food crops and tree species that have been neglected by researchers and industry because they are not economically important on the global market.

AOCC aims to use the latest scientific equipment and techniques to genetically sequence, assemble and annotate the genomes of 100 traditional African food crops in order to develop food crops with higher nutritional value which can better withstand climate changes, pests and disease.

“The AOCC gives Africa a chance through new science and its application to address many of its perennial problems of development,” said Professor Tony Simons, Director General of the World Agroforestry Centre.

“The addition of so many tree species in the list, which can help rural and urban people achieve their full cognitive and physical potential, is ground breaking, and these perennial solutions to nutrition will reinforce the progress Africa is making in so many other fields,” added Simons

The consortium includes the African Union - New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AU-NEPAD Agency); Mars, Incorporated; World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF); BGI; Life Technologies Corporation; World Wildlife Fund; University of California, Davis (UC Davis); iPlant Collaborative; and Biosciences eastern and central Africa - International Livestock Research Institute (BecA - ILRI Hub).

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