seed
the pat team
Dr. Brian Diers
bdiers@illinois.edu
Principal Investigator
Pan-African Soybean Variety Trial Program
Dr. Michelle da Fonseca Santos
Josy Francischini
g.chigeza@cgiar.org
Soybean Breeder
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Lead
Pan-African Soybean Variety Trial Program
Assistant Professor
Crop Sciences
University of Illinois
Assistant Professor
Crop Sciences
University of Illinois
number of experimental lines planted
The Breeding team
Soybean Breeder
Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), Ghana
Soybean Breeder
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ethiopia
Associate Professor, Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri
Research Molecular Biologist , USDA-ARS, University of Missouri
breeder education
SIL established a high-caliber Master of Science degree program in Genetics and Plant Breeding for African students looking to work in the seed industry in Sub-Saharan Africa. The program includes collaboration and professional networking with private and public-sector laboratories, offering the highest-quality training in a regionally accessible environment.
The MS Degree in Genetics and Plant Breeding is a sustainable program that explicitly develops African human capital both at the faculty and student levels. The program combines instruction and research based in Ghana with ongoing linkages to leading university plant breeding labs in the U.S. The program is graduating plant breeders with market relevant skills to drive crop productivity in Africa and foster economic growth. We are currently in the process of expanding the MS program to an additional 5 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa.
"To achieve food and nutritional security in Africa, a workforce must be prepared to take on the challenges of drought, disease and insect resistance, and geographical adaptation in creating improved crop varieties for small shareholder farmers. SIL is working with universities across the African continent to train the next generation of scientists in crop improvement.”
- Dr. Rita Mumm-Hogan, Emeritus Professor in Quantitative Genetics and Plant Breeding and SIL Breeder Education Program Lead
