Biosciences eastern and central Africa Hub: Capacity Building: Empowering African scientists to solve Africa’s agricultural challenges - Dr Segenet Kelemu, Director, Biosciences eastern and central Africa Hub

1. Biosciences eastern and central Africa Hub: Capacity Building
Empowering African scientists to solve Africa’s agricultural challenges
Segenet Kelemu
Director, BecA Hub
Nairobi, Kenya

2. Initial hosting arrangements and the creation of BecA
AU/NEPAD – Africa Biosciences Initiative (ABI): Creation of four regional
networks:
1. BecA (Biosciences eastern and central Africa) for
countries in eastern and central Africa
2. SANBio (Southern African Network for Biosciences)
for southern African countries
3. WABNet (West African Biosciences Network)
consisting of ECOWAS countries
4. NABNet (North African Biosciences Network) for the
countries in North Africa.

3. BecA Hub: Core activities
1. Research
Core competencies and research programs in agriculture: crop, animal
health and microbial sciences
2. Capacity building and training
3. Research and Technology-related services
4. Focal point for the agricultural research community in eastern and
central Africa
5. Promotion of product development and delivery

4. BecA Hub Core competencies
• Genomics/Metagenomics
• Functional genomics
• Bioinformatics
• Genetic engineering
• Diagnostics
• Molecular breeding (marker development and application)
• Proteomics
• Vaccine technology/Immunology
• Vectors (e.g. ticks)
• Mycotoxins

5. Capacity Building Objectives
• Strengthen capacity of individuals and
institutions to harness the latest
biosciences technologies to improve
agriculture in Africa
• Support African scientists efforts to lead
and sustain biosciences research in Africa
• Promote access to world-class research
and training facilities at the BecA–ILRI
Hub

6. Capacity building activities
• Research placements and individual/small group
trainees (275 from 21 African countries since
2007)
• Training workshops (49 workshops; 1120
trainees from 21 African countries since 2007)
• Institutional capacity building
• Creating linkages and partnerships; information
sharing; creating awareness of BecA-ILRI Hub
• Conferences

7. Africa Biosciences Challenge Fund (ABCF)
• Established in September 2010
• New and innovative way of building African biosciences
capacity while tackling agricultural constraints
• Established as part of the BecA-CSIRO partnership with
funding from AusAID
• Expanded with funding from BMGF and the Swedish
Ministry for Foreign Affairs through Sida
• Core support from Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable
Agriculture
• Growing number of capacity building partners providing
co-support (AWARD, ASARECA, UNECSO, LEAP, IFS)

8. ABCF Research Fellowships
Research outputs, plus
Building capacity to do research
 Technical skills
 Good lab practice and H&S
 Research ethics
 Science communication
• Presentations, posters
• Publications
 Develop partnerships
 Research sustainability

9. ABCF fellowship projects: examples of outputs
• Striga resistance in sorghum
• Passion fruit virus diagnostics
• Maize-sorghum hybrids
• PPR thermostable vaccine
• East Coast fever: rapid sero-diagnostics
• Disease studies
- Cassava virus - CBSD - first description in DRC
- Potential new races of wheat stem rust Ug99 (Kenya)
- Possible new Taro virus (Ethiopia/Burundi)
- New virus (Ndumu) in pigs - (Uganda)
- African Swine Fever diversity (Uganda)
Photo credit: A. Bombom
- Northern limit of East Coast fever in South Sudan

10. ABCF Fellows: leveraging funding
Alexander Bombom (Uganda)
• Maize-sorghum hybrids
• Invited BMGF proposal
Dr Felix Meutchieye (Cameroon)
• Cameroon goat diversity
• BecA-Sweden project
Dr Dora Kilalo (Kenya)
• Passion fruit virus rapid diagnostics
• BecA-Sweden project

11. Partners
…and many more

12. Thank you
Australia, Benin, Cameroon, England, Ethiopia, Italy, Kenya, USA