It's Feed the Future Week! SIL Recognizes Our
"Cultivators of Hope"
Who are Cultivators of Hope? Extraordinary individuals from around the world who have not only forged a better future for themselves, but also for their communities.
#CultivatingHope #EndHunger
West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) faculty, like Dr. Beatrice Ifie, play an important role in improving plant breeder education in Africa, as they serve as mentors to any African faculty seeking to utilize the PBEA resources to create, update, or enhance courses for postgraduate-degree programs in plant breeding.
Dr. Godfree Chigeza, SIL collaborator and soybean breeder, supported the launch of the first mechanized planter in the history of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)'s breeding program. IITA's new planter in Lusaka, Zambia can plant 10,000 rows of soybean in a single week.
Florence's leadership has been pivotal in the submission of three new soybean varieties for release in Malawi. These new soybean varieties, identified through SIL’s Pan-African Soybean Variety Trials, will soon be available to farmers across Malawi, helping to increase yields nationwide.
Andrew Goodman is cultivating hope through the operation of trial sites for SIL’s Pan-African Soybean Variety Trial program, as well as our SMART Farm. We can end hunger in our lifetime by providing farmers with access to high-performing seed, the best agronomic practices, and the most effective inputs.
Manual threshing of crops is a very labor and time intensive process that is especially burdensome to women who make up the majority of the labor force when it comes to stick threshing. Mechanized threshing impacts efficient production, food security, profits, and empowerment. Juliana leads a women's thresher cooperative in rural Ghana that has contributed to reducing post-harvest loss and improving livelihoods in her community.
Dr. Edward Martey surveyed farmers in rural Ghana to gauge their awareness of COVID-19 and strategies to reduce the risk of food insecurity. The study helps support local markets and food chains to overcome the impacts of COVID-19.
Dr. Ruth Oniang’o is a professor, researcher, African Food Prize Laureate, founder of Rural Outreach Africa (ROA), and holder of Kenya’s Silver Star and Distinguished Service Medal. The Soybean Innovation Lab and Rural Outreach Africa are pleased to work together to pilot a program to enhance nutrition for children and adolescents in Western Kenya, targeting areas where ROA is currently active.
Did you miss our event announcing the new Innovation to Impact initiative (i2i)?
The University of Illinois hosted a virtual event on Thursday, Sept. 17 to announce the new Innovation to Impact initiative.The Soybean Innovation Lab (SIL) at the University of Illinois was selected by USAID to lead this new project. Speakers included University of Illinois Chancellor Robert Jones, College of ACES Dean Kim Kidwell, Division Chief for Research, USAID Bureau of Food Security Nora Lapitan, and i2i Principal Investigator and SIL Director Peter Goldsmith, as well as Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, Illinois Rep. Darin LaHood, and State Sen. Scott Bennett.
Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Soybean Value Chain Research (Soybean Innovation Lab)
1301 West Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801 * Tel. (217) 333-7425 * soybeaninnovationlab@illinois.edu
