Part 5 of 5 -- Q&A on cassava research in Africa: pyramids & pathogens, partnerships & power
Channel: GCProgramme
Date: 10/06/2014

Seriously? Pyramids in plant breeding? Chiedozie Egesi, a plant breeder and molecular geneticist at Nigeria's National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), demystifies it all, explaining what pyramids & pathogens, and partnerships & power, have to do with plant breeding. 'Pyramiding' in plant science is technical jargon to describe progressively accumulating and stacking genes with desired traits into a single 'super-plant'. In combating disease-carrying plant pathogens, the idea is also to rally together closely allied genes into an 'army', so that the disease-fighting 'guerrilla' genes are not alone and support each other in the struggle against pests and diseases. Still on synergies, but moving from struggle to solidarity, Chiedozie also fills us in on the research partners NRCRI works with on cassava molecular breeding, spanning the spectrum from South--South collaboration with other programmes in Africa, to international partners in CGIAR and beyond in Europe and the Americas. What is the elixir that makes this such a powerful and productive partnership? Find out the potent magic potion from Chiedozie! Respect and equity, relationships and empowerment are core ingredients. In his words, "We will not just be at the receiving end of finished products: we also participate in developing technology."  What can we say? More power to NRCRI and partners, as they continue to do what they do best!

More on Chiedozie's work: http://bit.ly/17QzKK3 
Chiedozie's profile: http://bit.ly/1h57yLP
Cassava community of practice: http://bit.ly/1l5pKXl