The Biosciences eastern and central Africa - International Livestock Research Institute (BecA-ILRI) Hub, located in Nairobi, Kenya, is a shared agricultural research and biosciences platform that exists to increase access for African researchers to affordable, world-class research facilities. It awards research fellowships to African agricultural researchers for short-term projects at the BecA-ILRI Hub in NairobiI. The BecA-ILRI Hub capacity building program is branded The Africa Biosciences Challenge Fund (ABCF).
The purpose of the ABCF fellowship program is to develop capacity for agricultural biosciences research in Africa, to support research for development projects that ultimately contribute towards increasing food and nutritional security and/or food safety in Africa, and to facilitate access to the BecA-ILRI Hub facilities by African researchers (and their partners). It seeks applicants with innovative ideas for short to medium term research projects (up to 12 months) aligned with national, regional or continental agricultural development priorities that can be undertaken at the BecA-ILRI Hub.
The Biosciences eastern and central Africa - International Livestock Research Institute (BecA-ILRI) Hub, located in Nairobi, Kenya, is a shared agricultural research and biosciences platform that exists to increase access for African researchers to affordable, world-class research facilities. It awards research fellowships to African agricultural researchers for short-term projects at the BecA-ILRI Hub in NairobiI. The BecA-ILRI Hub capacity building program is branded The Africa Biosciences Challenge Fund (ABCF).
Purpose
The purpose of the ABCF fellowship program is to develop capacity for agricultural biosciences research in Africa, to support research for development projects that ultimately contribute towards increasing food and nutritional security and/or food safety in Africa, and to facilitate access to the BecA-ILRI Hub facilities by African researchers (and their partners). It seeks applicants with innovative ideas for short to medium term research projects (up to 12 months) aligned with national, regional or continental agricultural development priorities that can be undertaken at the BecA-ILRI Hub.
Areas of research
Applicants must be scientists affiliated (through employment) with an African National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) or university, and conducting research in the areas of food and nutritional security or food safety in Africa. Those carrying out research in the following areas are particularly encouraged to apply;
Improved control of priority livestock and fish diseases including: African Swine Fever (ASF); Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) and Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP); Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR); Rift Valley Fever (RVF); East Coast Fever (ECF); Capripox Virus diseases of ruminants;
Harnessing genetic diversity for conservation, resistance to disease and improving productivity of crops and livestock and fish (livestock focus: African indigenous breeds, particularly goats, chickens, alternative small livestock species); Molecular breeding for important food security crops in Africa;
- Plant transformation to address food insecurity in Africa;
- Plant-microbe interactions;
- Tissue culture and virus indexing for production of virus-free planting materials in Africa;
- Orphan/underutilized species of crops and livestock
- Crop pests, pathogens and weed management research, including biological control;
- Microbial technology for improving adaptation of staple food crops and forages to biotic and abiotic stresses;
- Food safety, including addressing aflatoxin and other mycotoxins contamination in food and feeds;
- Nutritional analysis of food and animal feeds;
- Rapid diagnostics for crop, livestock and fish diseases;
- Genomics, bioinformatics and metagenomics including microbial discovery;
- Studies on climate-smart forage grasses and mixed livestock-crop systems;
- Microbial technology for improving adaptation of staple food crops and forages to biotic and abiotic stresses;
- Soil health in agricultural systems.
Eligibility/applicant requirements
- National (passport holder) of a BecA-ILRI Hub target country for this call: Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Madagascar, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. In exceptional cases we may consider applicants from other African countries. The applicant MUST be a researcher employed at a NARI or university.
More information at the Africa Biosciences Challenge fund 2016-call for applications