We developed tropical maize that is genetically fortified with increased levels of vitamin A by crossing maize from the temperate zones that contain high levels of beta-carotene with tropical maize having intermediate pro-vitamin A content.

We worked with partners to develop a safe and natural biocontrol method that drastically cuts aflatoxin contamination in African food crops. The resulting product is called aflasafe™.

In June 2009, we shipped the second batch of African seeds to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, comprised of about 5000 seed samples of soybean, maize, bambara nut, cowpea, and African yam bean, packed in more than 10 seed boxes.

The successes recorded by the five-year run of the PROSAB project that we coordinated proved the effectiveness of our R4D approach in tackling not only livelihoods and food security but also social empowerment and gender equality.

This year, our Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP) was tapped to be part of a multi-sector consortium to implement the US$40 million, 5-year Cocoa Livelihoods Program (CLP) that aims to improve the livelihoods of approximately 200,000 cocoa farmers in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Liberia.

In consultation with partners across West Africa, we developed the Planting, Replanting and Diversification (PRD) Manual – a cocoa production training document designed to help sharpen the skills and knowledge of farmers in carrying out best practices to rehabilitate old farms and/or start new ones. We also developed an accompanying guidebook to help users make most out of the manual.

A study on the impact of agricultural research on productivity and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) that we completed this year has shown that agricultural research has a direct positive impact on poverty, reducing the number of poor people in the region by as much as 2.3 million annually.

Even while nearly a quarter of the world’s one billion-plus hungry are in Africa, the continent can easily meet its food and income needs with additional investments in agriculture, particularly in research and capacity-building.

This year, we moved closer to developing cassava with dual resistance to Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) and Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) – the most devastating diseases of the crop in Eastern and Central Africa and affecting more than 200 million people.

We developed an innovative yam propagation technique using vine cuttings that promises cheaper, safer, and faster multiplication of planting materials, translating to better profits for growers.