Submitted by A.B. Youngman on Wed, 21/09/2022 - 12:14
On 23 September Dr Carol Ibe of the JR Biotek Foundation started the Michaelmas term of our ECR Coffee Break Seminars discussing: Democratizing plant science research to accelerate food and nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr Ibe and the group discussed the vast opportunities, challenges and prospects in Africa's agriculture, and agreed on the urgent need to build adequate scientific research capacity on the continent to tackle food and nutrition security challenges effectively.
Carol also discussed the importance of the global scientific community’s support for the democratization of modern plant bio-technologies to enable African scientists to have access to the right tools, technologies and resources to enhance agricultural-research which is essential if there is to be a sustainable increase in food production on the continent in a timely and environmentally friendly manner. Carol has recently published an article "Renaming Indigenous crops and addressing colonial bias in scientific language" which tackles this topic and which meets the principles behind the "Forgotten Crops Society" that we launched two Summers ago with a variety of partners - and which probably might need to change its name! You can find Carol's article HERE.
Dr Carol Ibe
Carol Ibe is founder and president of the JR Biotek Foundation, an organization dedicated to upskilling and empowering Africa’s next generation of agricultural scientists. She has a PhD in Plant Sciences from the University of Cambridge (as a Gates scholar) and completed her postdoctoral research training at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK.
The looming hunger and malnutrition affecting millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa, has increasingly concerned Dr Ibe. She now devotes most of her time and effort towards developing innovative solutions aimed at advancing research on scientifically neglected and undervalued African indigenous (local) crops. She strongly believes that the democratization of plant science research will enhance the accessibility of plant bio-technologies to enable scientists in low resourced scientific communities in Africa and elsewhere to accelerate food production in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner.
Dr Ibe’s outstanding research, leadership and absolute commitment to improving lives and systems has led to several awards including the 2019 Bill Gates Sr. Prize and the University of Cambridge’s Society for the Application of Research Awards (CSAR).