Abdoulazize Banhoro, a PhD student at the University of Joseph Ki-zebro, travelled to Kenya to train on doubled haploid technology. This training was funded by the Plant Biotechnology and Breeding (Plant B+B) International Thematic Network. It was also co-funded by the Agricultural industry of the Diaspora (GROUP AID-FASO) SA.

While in Kenya, Abdoulazize was hosted by The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, CIMMYT. CIMMYT has developed maize doubled haploid (DH) facility for Africa in partnership with the Kenya Agricultural Livestock Research Organisation (KARLO) in KARLO-Kiboko station. The KARLO-kiboko station emerges as the “centre of excellence “ for maize breeding in sub-Saharan Africa.

Abdoulazize visited field trials such as; three-way cross-hybrid testing field trials, Striga screening trials conducted in collaboration with the WACCI program, and fall armyworm screening trials. This training on Doubled Haploid technology allowed him to practice DH line production with strong, experienced scientists.

The training on DH technology at CIMMYT Kenya was very rewarding for me. This allowed me to have practical experience in producing DH lines and consolidating my thesis project. Indeed, I learnt all the details of the different stages of DH line production, including haploid seeds production, chemical treatment for the chromosome doubling and production of the D0 nursery. In addition, I learnt the process of developing new products from a breeding program to farmers. Ultimately, CIMMYT's experiences in DH technology and product development can be a windfall for the training of young scientists from Burkina Faso and an excellent opportunity for the development of the maize sector in the country. ~ Abdoulazize

Plant B+B supports junior scientists to showcase their science in international congresses and fora. This year Miss Celestine Oduori, who is a junior researcher conducting her MSc thesis in Nematology at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nairobi (Kenya), received a grant to travel to South Africa to present her research at the 23rd Nematological Society of Southern Africa's (NSSA) symposium.

Celestine's main goal for attending this conference was to share her work on nematode management on different crops across Africa with other researchers and students. The title of her oral presentation was 'Cocoyam (Colocacia esculenta) provides an effective monoxenic culture media for Radopholus similis', and it discussed how a novel culturing technique for nematodes could help other researchers to build up inoculum for their experimental research and pathogenicity analyses. Culturing nematodes in the lab is a tedious and complicated task, and most of the time, this process is hampered by several challenges. 

So far, nematologists have been using carrot discs. Still, unfortunately, this in vitro system shows limited success due to high contamination, limited nematode production and the need for frequent sub-culturing. Luckily for nematologists, the current method proposed by Celestine and the NemAfrica team is more effective in building up the nematode inoculum, but it is also cheaper and reduces contamination and contamination the workload in the laboratory. This novel methodology has been published in the Nematology Journal.

This symposium opened my eyes and my perception to most things in life in terms of academic, career as well as social life. I was able to gain the courage to present before an international audience, I was able to learn from other participants, how to present in a conference both oral and poster presentations. I am happy that I met new people dealing with new things that we don't work on in our lab. ~ Celestine Oduori

Congratulations, Celestine, for your successful participation! The Plant B+B ITN wishes you the best for your future research career in nematology. 

Plant biotechnology, especially GMOs and gene editing, are valuable techniques that scientists can use to increase crop productivity and ensure food security in many communities globally. The adoption of crop biotechnology products like GMOs has been characterised by public discourse due to perceived risks and safety. Crucial to demystifying biotechnology issues and concerns is adequate science-based, authoritative information to enable various stakeholders to engage in an objective and transparent debate. 

With so much information in the mainstream media about GMOs in Namibia, it is difficult for non-scientists to glean fact from fiction, making it a recurring and contentious public policy issue. To improve the understanding of biotechnology and how its products can contribute to food security, especially in developing countries, stakeholders need to understand and be accurately informed about the technology's benefits, risks and impacts. 

Communication is one of several critical variables needed to create an enabling environment for biotechnology. To that end, the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) was awarded a Science on the Raod grant (Plant B +B) to disseminate information about plant biotechnology to the communal farmers, schools and regulators.

Students in the Department of Natural and Applied Sciences at NUST were engaged in lecture presentations at various levels. Subsequently, three students studying towards BSc honours in Biotechnology were selected and trained to be part of the team for further engagements with students from high schools. High-impact advocacy activities were then successfully implemented in four schools chosen from different regions in different regions of Namibia. Learners engaged were in grades 8 to 12, mainly studying life sciences. The engaged schools include Amazing Kids in the Khomas region, Centaurus Secondary School in Windhoek, Okahandja Secondary school in Otjozondjupa Region and Rehoboth High School in Rehoboth. The number of students engaged was more than 162. The engagement activities include lectures, discussions, and debates. The presentations and discussions dwelled on the different stages of developing a modern biotech product, to commercialisation stages, and regulations.

These engagements opened my eyes to biotechnology and its applications in Namibia. I am quite tempted to study a biotechnology degree next year at NUST and be a future biotechnologist. ~ Christopher Husselmann, Grade 12 learner.

Furthermore, two presentations were made to farmers and regulators about plant breeding and biotechnology at the smallholder farmers' meeting on “Technologies for climate-resilient small-holder agriculture” in Windhoek on 27 September 2021. Participants were selected to represent all the regions of Namibia. Farmers from different areas of Namibia attended the meeting. At this meeting, regulators ensured public understanding of biotechnology, biosecurity, and biosafety in Namibia. Engagements were in the form of PowerPoint presentations and interactive issues-based discussions about the recent developments in modern biotechnology and how it can assist local farmers in increasing productivity against climate change. Participants acknowledged the information they received on how biotechnology can help increase productivity and reduce input costs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how hungry we can easily go; Namibia should therefore tap into the benefits that come with Biotechnology to boost national food output. ~ Mr Sydney Tjimune, farmer from Kavango

Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology student Mativavarira Munyaradzi, secured funding from VIB_ IPBO, Belgium. The Plant B+B Short Research Stays (SRS) programme aims to promote mobility and exchange of early-career scientists, including PhD students, between partners across continents and institutions.

Munyaradzi is a DPhil student in the Crop Science department specializing in Plant Breeding and Seed systems under the African Indigenous Vegetables (AIV) project. His research study is entitled: Morphological, molecular, nutritional characterization of spider plant (Cleome Gynadra). Munyaradzi's current DPhil research explores genetic variation in spider plants and how that can be manipulated for crop improvement for the benefit of smallholder farmers who grow spider plants. He intends to use the understanding and further knowledge he got from the Short Research Stays to develop spider plant varieties that meet the stakeholders' needs and boost spider plant productivity.

Through the Plant B+B short research stays, he was hosted at BecA-ILRI Hub in Nairobi.

I am grateful to BECA-ILRI Hub for hosting me during my SRS, during which I received supervision and technical support that broadened my research work. It was an excellent opportunity to be in an environment where I could be mentored by the BecA staff and learn from other fellows from different countries. The workshops and training meetings which attract a diversity of fellows were instrumental in developing networks. ~Munyaradzi