Africa Biosciences Challenge Fund (ABCF)Empowering African scientists to solve Africa’s agricultural challenges

Rob Skilton11 Sept 2012

• Research placements and individual/small group trainees (270 individuals; 21 African countries)• Training workshops (48 workshops; 1100

trainees; 21 African countries)• Institutional capacity building• Linkages, information, creating awareness• Conferences

BecA-ILRI Hub: Capacity building

Components of ABCF

• ABCF Research Fellowships

• Training workshops

• Creating awareness and institutional capacity building

ABCF Research Fellowships

• Large demand for Hub, inadequate funds

• Capacity building through research

• NARIs and universities

• Up to 6 months at Hub

• Competitive; targeted

ABCF Research Fellowships

• Country priorities

• Pathway to impact

• Deliver new technologies

• Strengthen ongoing projects

• Innovative research

• Attach to BecA-ILRI Hub activities

• Leverage funding

• Partnerships for research

Research outputs, plus:Building capacity to do research

Technical skills Analytical skills Good lab practice and H&S Science communication

• Presentations • Publications

Develop partnerships Research sustainability

ABCF Research Fellowships

Growing numbers of ABCF Fellows 2010-2012

Sept 2010 - Feb 2011

Mar 2011 - Aug 2011

Sept 2011 - Feb 2012

Mar 2012 - Aug 2012

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Total: 51

Women: 33%Men: 67%

ABCF Fellows: represented countries

BecA countries (12)Non-BecA countries (3)

• Cassava viruses in Congo• Trypanosomiasis epidemiology in

Uganda• Cavies, goat and chicken diversity for

improvement• Taro tissue culture and disease

diagnostics• Control of theileriosis in East Africa

ABCF Fellows: Thematic groups

• Striga resistance in sorghum• Passion fruit virus diagnostics• Maize-Sorghum Hybrid• PPR thermostable vaccine in Sudan• New molecular tools to study theileria

diversity• East Coast Fever: rapid sero-diagnostics• ‘Disease reports’

ABCF projects: examples of outputs

• Cassava virus -CBSD (DRC)• Potential new races of Ug99 (Kenya)• Possible new Taro virus (Ethiopia)• Ndumu virus in pigs (Uganda)• ASFV diversity (Uganda)• Theileria (Sudan and South Sudan)

Example of outputs: ‘Disease reports’

Alex Bombom (Uganda)• Maize-Sorghum Hybrid• Invited BMGF proposal

Felix Meutchieye (Cameroon)• Cameroon goat diversity• BecA-Sweden project

Dora Kilalo (Kenya)• Passion fruit virus diagnostics• BecA-Sweden project

ABCF Fellows: leveraging funding

• Introduction to Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics (2011, 2012)

• Advanced Genomics and Bioinformatics (2011, 2012)

• Scientific Research Paper Writing (2010, 2011, Nov 2012)

• Laboratory Management and Equipment Operations (2012)

ABCF: Annual Workshops

BecA countries: 15Non-BecA countries: 2

Raising awareness in the 18 BecA countries

• Country Visits: 39 institutions and organisations visited in 2011/2012

• Mailing list• Website• Meetings/Conferences• Annual letter

2011/12BurundiCameroonDR CongoEthiopiaRwandaSudanTanzania

PlannedEquatorial GuineaMadagascarSão Tomé and Príncipe

Country visit : Burundi

4 workshop participants

• Agrobiotech

• Phytolabu

• Burundi University;

3 ABCF Fellowships (Taro)

BecA-Sweden plant tissue culture and diagnostics project

Mushroom Lab partner on FANS

project

• Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU)

Institutional capacity building

• National Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, EIAR, Holetta, Ethiopia

• Gulu University, Uganda

• Mikocheni Agricultural Research Institute (MARI), Tanzania

Partners

• AusAID through the BecA-CSIRO partnership• Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs through

the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (sida)

• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation • Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable

Agriculture

• African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD)

• Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA)

• United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

• International Foundation For Science (IFS)

Other capacity building partnerships

Partners

…and growing

Thank you