Key Takeaways
- The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is participating in a new $15 million crop biotechnology initiative in Rwanda.
- The five-year Rwanda Capacity Building (BioCap) Project is supported by the Gates Foundation.
- A Centre of Excellence for Crop Biotechnology will be established at the RAB Rubona Station.
- Research will focus on cassava, potato, and banana disease resistance.
- The initiative aims to strengthen Rwanda’s research, regulatory, and seed systems capacity.
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Partners on Rwanda BioCap Project
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is part of a new international initiative to establish a Centre of Excellence for Crop Biotechnology at the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) Rubona Station in Huye District, Rwanda. The effort is part of the Rwanda Capacity Building (BioCap) Project, a five-year, $15 million program supported by the Gates Foundation.
The BioCap Project aims to improve agricultural productivity and food security by strengthening Rwanda’s capacity to develop, regulate, and deploy improved crop varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases and tailored to national priorities.
Research Focus on Priority Food Crops
Researchers based at the Centre of Excellence will focus on three crops that are central to Rwanda’s food and economic security. These include cassava varieties resistant to cassava brown streak disease, potato varieties resistant to late blight, and farmer-preferred banana types such as Scandisi and Jaggi that are resistant to banana Xanthomonas wilt and Fusarium wilt.
