Author: J. Muthie

By Dr. Daniel Kyalo Willy Experts on Pesticide Registration from EAC Partners states of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi gathered in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania from September 18 to 20 to finalise drafting of the Regionally Harmonised Guidelines for the Registration of Bio-pesticides and Biocontrol Products. The three-day technical working group meeting also brought […]

By Evelyn Situma Looking at the failed crops around her neighbours’ farms in Eliang’oma village in Vihiga County, 50-year old Jane Sabula is grateful for the decision she took two years ago to start planting DroughtTEGO® hybrid maize on her farm. At her local church, most of the stories from her fellow women are about crop failure, […]

By Evelyn Situma Butere, like many towns in Western Kenya was once the symbol of the booming Sugarcane farming. But today, the once burgeoning cane farms have now been replaced with maize. Farmers like Fredrick Anjawa said they opted to shift to maize for survival. “I farmed sugarcane since 1986 but never earned anything from […]

Our colleague Gospel Omanya, who passed away on 16 June 2019 at age 51 after a short illness, was a plant geneticist and Africa’s frontier seed systems expert with decades of combined work experience, mostly spent as a practitioner of technology deployment at AATF where he worked for 15 uninterrupted years, maintaining his exceptional focus […]

By Suleiman Okoth AATF hosted a delegation from International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) at their Nairobi Headquarter office on April 9 to discuss commercialization of rice technologies in Africa. ‘AATF has a strong partnership with private seed companies that are already licensing and commercializing its hybrid rice in East Africa. Collaboration with IRRI will contribute […]

By Dr. Denis T. Kyetere Our promise to Africa and especially the smallholder farmer is to deliver technological innovations that will address specific agricultural productivity challenges and transform livelihoods. This promise is hinged on our belief that innovative technologies will unlock the potential of African smallholder farmers in their struggle to feed the population. We […]

Congratulations to Prof Ida Sithole-Niang on her election as a Fellow at the World Academy of Sciences. At AATF we are proud of your leadership as Board Chair between January 2010 to April 2016. Your guidance on strategy direction and the special expertise on the Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) cowpea is priceless and gave AATF […]

Ugandan plant scientists face severe financial penalties and decade-long jail terms if proposed changes to the recently passed Biosafety Act 2017 are adopted, experts say. The draft changes also would undermine several important crop breeding programs intended to reduce pesticide use and boost food security in the East African country. The Ugandan scientific establishment and its […]

Agriculturalists in Burkina Faso say their country is still open to using the tools of biotechnology, despite the decision to stop growing genetically modified cotton. A controversy erupted over the low quality of fiber produced by GMO (Bt) cotton, prompting a withdrawal of the seeds in 2015 after they had been in use for eight years. […]

The news about the passing on of Prof. Calestous Juma came as a surprise to many. Most especially the proponents of agricultural biotechnology, most of whom, he had helped voice their enthusiasm towards adoption of genetically modified technology. Among them, were senior scientists at African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), notably Dr Mpoko Bokanga former Executive […]