Abstract:
For the past 15 years, a small university programme based in Africa’s deep south has been quietly training a new generation of plant breeders, while scattering seeds of innovation across the continent. Born in a moment of lateral thinking and propelled by the creative energy of its founders, the African Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI) in South Africa has flourished, becoming known as a centre of academic excellence.In the manner of all start-ups, its journey has been bumpy at times but also filled with idealism,industry and adventure. Students and staff have travelled to far-flung corners of the continent braving bandits, rough rides and dangerous diseases, all in pursuit of advancing the little-known science of classical plant breeding. The results have been outstanding: over 109 African plant
breeders trained, scores of new crop varieties have been released and the programme has changed the way agricultural postgraduates are being trained in Africa.
Description:
The African Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI) is a remarkable and largely unknown African success story. Funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and later Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the centre opened its doors at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa in 2002, with the ambitious goal of becoming a world-class training centre for African plant breeders. Powered by passion and
innovative thinking, it has achieved this, and
continues to train demand-driven plant breeders.
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