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Biography |
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Dr Sylvester Oikeh is currently WEMA Project Manager at African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) based in Nairobi, Kenya. He has more than 24 years of interdisciplinary experience in R & D on natural resources and crop management, and plant nutrition. He joined AATF in February 2009 from Africa Rice Centre, Benin Republic where he worked for five years, rising to the position of a Principal Scientist/Project Leader. As a Soil Fertility Agronomist, he developed different integrated soil fertility management packages for production of upland and lowland rice varieties including New Rice for Africa (NERICA). Between 1990 and 2003, Dr Oikeh held various positions at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Nigeria including as a GTZ Research Fellow; and a visiting maize scientist involved in collaborative research that investigated micronutrient enhancement of tropical maize to reduce micronutrient deficiency diseases in West African population. He established for the first time, the link between enhanced iron and zinc in maize grains with improvement in human nutrition using a Caco-2 cell in vitro technique (model gut-system). In 2001, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University, Ithaca, USA. Dr Oikeh attained his doctorate in Soil Science (Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition) from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria, in 1996. He obtained a Masters degree in Crop Science from University of Nigeria, Nssuka, same university from where he had graduated with a Bachelor of Agriculture degree in Horticulture. Dr Oikeh holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Irrigation Engineering from the Centre for Irrigation Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium. He has authored over 50 publications in natural resources management and plant nutrition. He is a member of the Association for Project Management, America Society of Agronomy/Soil Science Society of America, International Plant Nutrition Council, and African Network for Soil Biology and Fertility.
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Abstract |
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The Water Efficient Maize for Africa Project
Recurring droughts are a persistent challenge to Sub-Saharan Africa, making farming risky for millions of smallholder farmers who rely on rainfall to grow their crops. Droughts have prevented smallholder farmers from adopting best management practices (BMPs) such as the use of fertilizers and improved hybrid seeds, contributing to reducing crop yields, and the amount of food available for families. The Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project, a public-private partnership is being implemented in five eastern and southern Africa countries. It aims to improve food security and rural livelihoods among smallholder cereal producers in Africa by developing white hybrid maize varieties that can grow well in conditions of low rainfall. The project is using a combination of conventional and marker-assisted breeding, along with advanced biotechnology to develop white hybrid maize varieties that are adapted to Africa. It will then work in partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders to deliver the improved hybrid maize seed to farmers royalty-free, alongside BMPs. The presentation discusses the need for enhancing agricultural productivity in Africa using the best available technologies. It expounded on reasons for Europe Union (EU) acceptance of genetically modified (GM) medicines with 87 recombinant (GM) drugs approved by European Medicines Agency since 1982, but not fully embracing genetically enhanced crops until the recent approval of the cultivation of genetically modified potato. This will have a positive impact on biotechnology in Africa. The presentation further discusses the nature of the WEMA partnership, its strategies, advances to date by the project teams, some major challenges, and gave a conclusion. |
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