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First among equals: Dr Silvia Restrepo first woman president of BTI in its 100-year history
Dr Silvia Restrepo was appointed Boyce Thompson Institute’s ninth and first female president in May 2023 and took office in October. She became the first female president in BTI’s 100-year history. Born in Bogotá and having lived in Paris, France, and Ithaca, New York, before returning to Colombia, Restrepo…
Relief to resilience: Bangladesh’s remarkable journey in biotechnology
In agricultural biotechnology, Bangladesh stands as a symbol of progress and innovation. Over the years, this South Asian nation has equipped itself with state-of-the-art technology and innovation, starting with Plant Tissue Culture in 1990 and becoming a biotechnology pioneer with Bt Brinjal’s approval in 2013. It would only be fair to…
Kenya: Government warns of fodder shortage due to climate change
The Kenyan government has said the country faces a shortage of livestock feed and fodder, and sustainable measures are needed to reverse the situation. Dr Stanley Mutua, the Head of Animal Feeds and Nutrition at the Ministry of Agriculture’s State Department for Livestock Development, said Kenya needs 55 million metric…
Profile: Dr Sheila Ochugboju reflects on her past and sees a bright future for Alliance for Science and a green, food-secure Africa
Like all great stories, it starts with lizards. Lizards and butterflies, scorpions and snakes and rivers. It starts with wide-open African skies waiting to be painted by restless imaginations. “I was left to roam and explore nature in my tiny village of Nigeria. I was told to be careful…
Bay of Bengal: Climate crisis puts people in ecologically fragile Sundarbans on the edge of poverty
The wind was blowing hard on a November 2007 afternoon. When Mohammad Alamin Khan’s father told him to fetch some items from the market, he left on his bicycle. Famous for its unique mangrove vegetation, the Sundarbans, the largest continuous mangrove vegetation in the world, covers over 10,000 kilometers…
Panelists at Action Zone say farmers need to be at the center of climate change conversation
Several side events to the inaugural Africa Climate Summit that started in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 4, had one thing in common: a lot of food was served. At the Climate Action Zone, a side event by the Alliance for Science, one session was dedicated to discussing the…
Kenya places faith in empowered community workers to realize Universal Health Coverage dream
In her Kandiege village in Kenya’s Homa Bay County, Loyce Anyango is held in high regard. She is a community health promoter (CHP) and sensitizes the villagers on maintaining general hygiene as the world recovers from Covid-19. Kenya has 47 devolved, semi-autonomous county governments headed by governors…
Uganda seeks to bring more smallholder farmers into money economy with new strategy
To attract more smallholder farmers to its money economy, Uganda has started implementing its much-touted Parish Development Model. The model, which President Yoweri Museveni launched in February 2022, is a government-led initiative aimed at extricating 17.5 million Ugandans from poverty and integrating the country’s subsistence households into the…
Malnutrition persists in Zimbabwe despite biofortification of crops and improved grain harvest
Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector has in recent years intensified its biofortification efforts as the country seeks to address long-running nutrition concerns. The Food and Agriculture Organisation says biofortification is “the development of crops with enhanced levels of nutrients available for consumption.” Biofortification adds nutritional value such as Vitamin A…