The African Molecular Marker Applications Network (AMMANET) members recently met in Nairobi to strategize on how to use DNA Molecular Marker technology to improve crops in Africa.

Issues of crop pests, diseases and yields were discussed, with the participants agreeing that MAS [Marker Assisted Selection] could be applied efficiently and cost-effectively to solve some of the problems. They identified bananas, beans, cassava, cowpeas, maize, millet, rice and sorghum as some of the priority crops to concentrate their activities on. Smaller groups were formed to work on each crop.

Dr Richard Edema, the newly elected coordinator of the group and a Molecular Plant Virologist in the Department of Crop Science, Makerere University, Uganda, told Crop Biotech Update that AMMANET’s main goal is to share resources, synergies, and exchange information on crop improvement initiatives on the continent. “This is the only way to eliminate duplication of efforts that has led to huge waste of resources on the continent,” he emphasized.

AMMANET, which is currently funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, has over 100 members from seventeen countries in Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Egypt, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Mozambique, and Rwanda among others. Dr. Jedidah W. Danson a member of AMMANET secretariat and a Molecular Biologist with CIMMYT’s African Livelihoods Program, said the organization with will work closely with National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), Regional organizations like Biosciences Eastern and Central Africa (BECA), Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Africa (ASARECA), African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the CGIAR centers, and other relevant international bodies to fulfil their objectives.