Vice-Chancellor Pays a Working Visit to WACCI

Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo (Vice-Chancellor, University of Ghana)

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo has paid a working visit to the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI).

The purpose of the visit was to familiarize herself with progress on the implementation of the World Bank Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) Impact Project and to interact with the crew of the Association of African Universities Television in connection with a documentary on the project.

The Vice-Chancellor was welcomed by the Director of WACCI, Prof. Eric Yirenkyi who made  a presentation on the topic, “WACCI: Africa Centre of Excellence for Agriculture Innovation and Entrepreneurship”. He walked the Vice-Chancellor through the genesis of the WACCI project and presented highlights of developments since the inception of the project. He disclosed that from a US$ 5 million project established as a semi-autonomous Centre in the defunct College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences in 2007 at the behest of the Alliance for a Green Revolution (AGRA), WACCI had evolved into a US$40 million project exceeding the expectations of the founding sponsor. Professor Danquah noted that WACCI had trained 105 PhD students in Plant Breeding who have become game-changers and history makers in over 14 countries in Africa, adding that the graduates have attracted over US$35 million to their research institutions, published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and released over 180 improved varieties of staple crops which are being commercialized in the West Africa sub-region.

Speaking on the contribution of WACCI to the University of Ghana, the WACCI Director indicated that in addition to the significant contribution to the academic life of the University which contributes to the University’s reputation, WACCI had contributed over US$ 1.8 million to the internally generated funds of the University and donated three vehicles to units of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS).

Professor Eric Y. Danquah (Director, WACCI)

Professor Danquah outlined plans to create an enabling environment at WACCI to grow the Centre into a world-class research-intensive institution. He stated that early career scientists at the Centre had been awarded seed grants of US$50,000 each to grow their research and attract international partners. Professor Danquah hailed the faculty and administrators at WACCI who, he said, had lived the core values of the Centre and contributed significantly to the achievements which have made WACCI a leading institution for PhD training in Plant Breeding in Africa and one of the largest globally. He shared eleven (11) lessons from the WACCI project and submitted that, perhaps, it was the 360 degrees leadership driven by the visionary leadership that had allowed WACCI to grow into one of the finest institutions globally for the training of plant breeders at the PhD level. Prof. Danquah opined that training Africans in quality institutions in Africa on African crops for Africa was certainly a game-changing move as it immediately addresses the brain drain conundrum which had stymied progress in development in Africa for about six decades. The Director of WACCI said that WACCI which is one of three World Bank ACE Impact Centers will access US$ 5.5 million between 2019 and 2023 and called for more support from Senior Management of the University to facilitate meeting of disbursement linked indicators of the project. 

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo with the Faculty and Staff of WACCI

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo in brief remarks said that she was impressed by the WACCI story and lauded the Centre for its enviable achievements since its inception. “WACCI is a model to be emulated”, she said. “If UG had many units like WACCI, we could boldly say that we are walking close to achieving our vision of becoming a world-class research-intensive university”, she added.

The Vice-Chancellor commended the Director and staff of WACCI for striving to achieve excellence and urged WACCI to continue to train Africans for plant breeding in Africa to contribute significantly towards the continent meeting SDG2.

Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo was interviewed by a crew from AAU TV on the contribution of WACCI to the University of Ghana.