COLLABORATIONS

Mizan joined Tigray Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) since 2007, as crop research officer. She completed her MSc and PhD studies in 2010 and 2017, respectively and continued to work as a crop researcher at TARI. She specialized in the field of plant breeding and has been responsible in identifying the tef and wheat crops production problems, developing and implementing research projects for developing user demanded improved tef and wheat varieties in Ethiopia, data collection and management and report writing. During her stay at the institute she has involved in identifying and delivering improved tef varieties namely Quncho, Kora and Bosset and bread wheat varieties named as Mekelle-01, Mekelle-02, Mekelle-03 and Mekelle-04 etc , which have widely adopted by farmers in the Tigray region, Ethiopia and contributed in improving tef and wheat productivity.

Since April 2023, she joined the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI), as project officer of the Institutional support for the seed system in Ethiopia (ISSSE) project, which is addressing systematic bottlenecks in the early generation seed production and marketing, seed quality assurance and policy, legislatives and regulations

Adesike Oladoyin Kolawole, an esteemed academic at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, is dedicated to teaching and research in crop production and soil science. With degrees in Agronomy and Plant Breeding, she offers courses and supervises student projects in various fields. Adesike also serves as the examination results officer, oversees farm teaching, and conducts research in maize breeding. As a maize breeder, she focuses on maize improvement and the deployment of conventional maize hybrids tailored to the needs of resource-limited farmers in the Derived Savanna Agro-ecology of Nigeria. She’s affiliated with prestigious associations, including the African Plant Breeders Association.

Adesike will contribute her expertise in maize breeding and genetics. She will actively participate in the design and implementation of breeding programs, leveraging her knowledge to select desirable traits for drought tolerance in maize. Additionally, She will collaborate closely with other researchers and institutions, sharing data, resources, and insights to accelerate progress towards our shared goal. Through this collaborative effort, Adesike aims to make significant contributions food security in drought-prone regions.

Frank is a Ugandan crop scientist presently working for the National Agricultural Research Organization as a maize breeder. He holds a PhD in Plant Breeding from the University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa; MSc. in Agronomy and a BSc. Agric. from Makerere University Uganda. Frank has a productive work experience of now 20 years in research and development activities. He commands a robust experience in consulting with several international organizations such as Lutheran World Federation (LWF), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), World Vision, International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC), International Seed Sector Development (ISSD), CARITAs and PELUM.

He has trained over 10,000 young people in his career as an agriculturalist at different forums. His expertise includes among others, skills in proposal writing, data analysis and manuscript development, conducting editorial reviews, theses examination, conducting both controlled and survey experiments, program management and administration, project monitoring and evaluation, coordinating and evaluating agricultural projects. Outside his official duties, Frank is a coffee nursery operator and trainer, and for the last 10 years, he has enabled over 50 households in eastern Uganda to acquire knowledge and skills in coffee, and seedlings for field establishment. He also breeds chicken for individual farmers and organisations in addition to extending training in poultry management.

Frank will conduct maize breeding and evaluation trials across locations in partnership with Booster. He will be a mouth piece for Booster in Uganda and beyond, especially in promoting Booster’s technologies. He also expects to share a lot of germplasm for drought tolerance and other traits with Booster, also scientific information.