Scientific Excellence Recognized

Ten scientists from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Costa Rica, China, Ethiopia, Kenya and India have been recognized by IFAR, a foundation, dedicated to fostering scientific excellence in agriculture through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) by way of partnerships, collaboration and awards.

The scientists are Helga Rodriguez Von Platen, Christian O. Thine, Zachee Ngoko, Xue-Jun Ge, Jules Bayala, Geetha Rani, Peter Gathumbi, Tilahum T. Habtemichael, Drissa Hema, and Reuben Muasya.

The awardees will spend up to three months working with world class scientists at CGIAR Centers, with all costs being covered.

The fellowship winners developed innovative results-oriented proposals together with their proposed host research Centers: IPGRI, World Agroforestry Centre/ICRAF, IITA ILRI and the Africa Rice Center/ WARDA. An international team of experts reviewed the proposals, covering diverse research areas such as the development of rice lines for drought prone rice production systems; modeling gene-flow to assess risk to biodiversity in traditional cropping systems and the application of GIS and remote sensing in soil quality assessment.

"I believe the applications we received this year were outstanding. It is gratifying to see the high standard of academics from developing countries who are choosing to work on programs which have the potential to offer real benefits to the poor," said Ruth Haug, Chair of the Evaluation Committee and Director of Research at NORAGRIC, the Agricultural University of Norway. "Their work is focused on delivering global public goods and they are exceptional young people." The Evaluation Committee included experts from Brazil, Cameroon, India and New Zealand.

"IFAR has a strong commitment to partnerships," said Francisco Reifschneider, IFAR President. "We are confident that one of the best ways we can foster effective partnerships is through awarding fellowships which benefit both the individual and the CGIAR Centers where the fellows will work, and which produce knowledge and expertise for the public good, focusing on the needs of developing countries."

For more information, visit www.ifar4dev.org