Leaders in the fields
The University’s Africa College marked its 5th anniversary this summer at a conference highlighting its work on agricultural improvement.
The three-day international conference brought together around 100 leading plant scientists and breeders and climate modellers from across the world to discuss the challenge of breeding plants that can cope with climate change.
Africa College is an international research partnership working to find sustainable answers to hunger and malnutrition in Africa. It works with leading research institutes based in Africa, such as the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, which aims to conserve ecosystems and support rural livelihoods that conserve biodiversity.
Professor Christine Foyer, who chaired the conference, said: “This is a time of uncertainty about the impacts of climate change on crop production and agriculture. Africa College has demonstrated a way forward by promoting joined up thinking between plant scientists, breeders, climate change scientists, crop modellers and agro-industry. This conference brought together leaders in all these fields as well as younger researchers. Together we can be better prepared to face the looming challenges of feeding a rapidly increasing world population”.
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