Tag Archives: east africa

BecA-ILRI Hub alumni Charles Masembe: an African leader in livestock disease research

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Dr Charles Masembe, Assistant Professor in the College of Natural Sciences at the Makerere University in Uganda

Dr Charles Masembe, Assistant Professor in the College of Natural Sciences at the Makerere University in Uganda

Dr Charles Masembe, an veterinerian, molecular epidemiologist and Associate Professor at the College of Natural Sciences, Makerere University in Uganda has been awarded a five-year Wellcome Trust Public Health and Tropical Medicine fellowship.

Building on discoveries he made while conducting research on genetic factors linked to the transfer of African swine fever (ASF) at the Biosciences eastern and central Africa-International Livestock Research Institute (BecA-ILRI) Hub, Masembe has continued to lead key research efforts on understanding the devastating viral swine disease.  African swine fever periodically kills 90-100 per cent of herds affected, threatening the thriving pig production industry in Uganda. Masembe will use the Wellcome Trust award to investigate the distribution patterns, and full genome characteristics that influence the maintenance and transmission of African swine fever at the livestock-wildlife interface in Uganda.

Masembe’s research at the BecA-ILRI Hub in 2010 and 2011, Masembe, shed light on the existence of the Ndumu virus in domestic pigs, a phenomenon which had not been previously observed. The virus had previously been isolated only from culicine mosquitoes. The results of his research will contribute to the development of effective control strategies for this disease that threatens the development of Uganda’s pig industry, the the largest and most rapidly growing pig production in eastern Africa with a pig population of 3.2 million.

Read similar story by the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM)

Read more about Masembe’s research at the BecA-ILRI Hub: Viral metagenomics demonstrates that pigs are a potential reservoir for Ndumu virus

Enhancing sorghum production for an improved economy in South Sudan

Richard Zozimo begins a journey to unlock the knowledge that could transform his country’s most important food crop

With approximately 330,000 square kilometers of land space, is estimated to be suitable for cultivation and 80% of its population living in rural farming communities, South Sudan has the potential to become Africa’s granary.

Sorghum, the fifth most important grain crop in the world, is the country’s most important food staple
and grows in all its agro-ecological zones. Not only does sorghum have the potential to make South
Sudan food secure, but also to make the country a key player in the US$80 billion a year global cereals industry.

South Sudan scientist Richard Zozimo at the BecA-ILRI Hub

Richard Zozimo conducting research at the BecA-ILRI Hub in 2014 (Photo: BecA-ILRI Hub\ Marvin Wasonga)

Richard Opi B. Zozimo, a research assistant at South Sudan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Cooperative and Rural Development has spent six months analyzing the diversity of sorghum landraces in the country. He believes increased investment in research will help his country benefit from this crop.

Zozimo says “Although it is such an important crop to South Sudan, the genetic information of sorghum is not well documented.”

The research which was funded by the Biosciences eastern and central Africa-International Livestock Research Institute (BecA-ILRI) Hub through its Africa Biosciences Challenge Fund (ABCF) fellowship program revealed that the local varieties of sorghum have genetic markers expressing varied unique genetic traits.

“There are varieties of sorghum in my country with traits that can be harnessed to increase productivity, such as early maturation and the ability to withstand flooding,” stated Zozimo, “my research will help unveil all this information for use in national breeding programs,” he added.

South Sudan’s government is committed to transforming the largely traditional subsistence approach to farming into a market oriented, environmentally sustainable profitable enterprise.  With support from programs like the ABCF, national scientists and their collaborators can access the tools necessary to advance agriculture and impact the country’s economy.

A partnership for the future – Gity Berhavan talks about the BecA-Sweden partnership

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During the review of the BecA-Sweden partnership programmes at the BecA-ILRI Hub in November 2013, Gity Berhavan, Senior Research Advisor/First Secretary: Regional Research Cooperation, Embassy of Sweden in Kenya, expressed her thoughts on Sweden’s contribution to research for development in Africa and specifically about the partnership with the BecA-ILRI Hub.

Gity Behrevan

Gity Berhavan, Senior Research Advisor/First Secretary: Regional Research Cooperation, Embassy of Sweden in Kenya during an interview at the BecA-ILRI Hub (photo credit: BecA-ILRI Hub/Tim Hall)

Sweden’s strategy for development cooperation with Africa, especially in the area of research, is to align itself with the African agenda. For example, the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AU/NEPAD) Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) agenda is to increase the productivity of the food and agricultural systems in Africa.

Partnering with the BecA-ILRI Hub (or BecA) is a strategic way of tapping into the wider African science agenda. The BecAILRI Hub is an African initiative that responds to this agenda by bringing together different national agricultural research institutions in collaborative research based on regional and national priorities, for the improvement of livestock and crop production.

By supporting BecA, the Swedish government is able to provide funding to increase the capacity of an array of African institutions to conduct high end agricultural research. A case in point BecA’s programme to increase the use of bioinformatics to mine genomics and metagenomics data for the development of disease diagnostics tools. Through this programme, the knowledge and capacity in bioinformatics which is already at Hub is being extended to other institutions in the region, ensuring the sustainability of research in that area. The African Biosciences Challenge Fund (ABCF) is another exciting programme which is giving early career scientists in Africa access to training and skills that will enable them to design and lead bigger research projects on their own.

The highlight of the review, however, has been getting acquainted with the kind of research and capacity building alliances the BecA-ILRI Hub is building that are not limited to ‘south-south’, ‘north-south’ but also ‘south-south-north’ collaborations. These broad partnerships are what 21st Century research needs in order to find timely solutions to the challenges of global food insecurity.

Going forward, we would like to see the BecA-ILRI Hub engage more with policy makers and institutions responsible for the development of national Masters and PhD programmes curriculum development. A paradigm shift from training scholars for employment, to training scientists who will create jobs through innovative research will greatly accelerate development in the region.

We would also wish to see the constitution of the BecA advisory panel as laid out in the new BecA-ILRI Hub Business plan for 2013-2018. This panel will play a very critical role in providing dynamic strategic direction in the selection of projects and partners in the future.