Davis, California, USA
June 7, 2018

In collaboration with The African Union, New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the World Agroforestry Centre, Mars, Incorporated and the African Orphan Crops Consortium (africanorphancrops.org), the University of California, Davis is launching the African Plant Breeding Academysm. The Plant Breeding Academy is a premium professional certificate program currently offered in the USA, Europe Asia and Africa. Fifteen classes offered worldwide since 2006 were attended by 281 breeders from 60 countries, making the UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy (PBA) the most recognized program of its kind. The program covers the fundamentals and the most recent developments in plant breeding theory and practice. For the last 5 years, UC Davis has been recognized as the top University for teaching and research in agriculture in the world (ucdavis.edu).

The goal of the African Plant Breeding Academy is to train practicing African plant breeders in the most advanced theory and technologies for plant breeding in support of critical decisions for improvement. This includes the latest concepts in plant breeding, quantitative genetics, statistics and experimental design. It also includes accurate and precise trait evaluations, development of appropriate strategies to integrate genomics into breeding programs and experience in identifying and utilizing genomic data and DNA‐based markers in breeding programs.

This six‐week program will be delivered in three 2‐ week classes with session one beginning in Nairobi, Kenya on November, 2018. The instructors are internationally recognized experts in plant breeding and seed technology. Scholarships are available for select students to attend this prestigious program.

Participant criteria and selection

Classes are limited to 35 students. All students will be from Africa.

Ideal students will:

1. Have a Ph.D. or Masters degree with significant plant breeding experience
2. Have taken courses in statistics, genetics and breeding
3. Be currently managing a breeding program in any crop
4. Have proficiency in English language
5. Be available to attend all 3 sessions

Course dates:

• November 25 – December 8, 2018
• May 12 ‐ 25, 2019
• December 1 ‐ 13, 2019

Closing date for application is August 15, 2018.

For more information on course curriculum, dates, the application process and scholarships, please visit http://pba.ucdavis.edu/

Website: http://pba.ucdavis.edu/

Published: June 7, 2018