The African Plant Breeders Association (APBA) is hosting a continent-wide hybrid plant breeding conference on the theme: “Accelerating Genetic Gains in Plant Breeding for Resilience and Transformative Food Systems and Economic Growth in Africa”.

The conference, with talks from leading plant breeders from Africa and beyond, will be held from October 25-29, 2021 at the Kigali Serena Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda.

“Strategic partnerships and urgent action in the area of genetic innovation are needed to develop resilient, nutritious and productive varieties of the staple crops of Africa”, said Professor Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, Founding Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement and President of the APBA.  

He added, “This urgent need led to the formation of the APBA”.

The organizing partners of the conference include the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the African Union Commission (AUC), the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), BAYER and the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Rwanda. 

The conference will be opened on October 26, 2021 at 15:00 (CAT) by the President of the APBA. This will be followed by keynote addresses from Dr Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA and Guest of Honour (GoH), Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, Commissioner, Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, AUC, Dr Barbara Wells, Director, Genetic Innovation, CGIAR and Dr Gerardine Mukeshimana, Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Rwanda.

A high-level panel on partnerships for the inclusive transformation of agriculture in Africa will be moderated by Dr Robert Bertram, Chief Scientist, Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, USAID.

The opening ceremony will be chaired by Dr Ousmane Badiane, Executive Chairman of AKADEMIYA2063 and facilitated by Madam Aggie Konde, Vice President, Program Development and Innovation, AGRA.

The main conference will comprise keynote addresses, plenary and parallel sessions. There will be five pre-conference workshops on October 25, 2021, hosted by the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement-Iowa State University, Michigan State University, the CGIAR-Excellence in Breeding Platform, the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance and the AUC-African Seed and Biotechnology Platform Working Group on Plant Genetic Resources Management led by the APBA.

 Over 600 participants have registered for the hybrid conference.