GCP is delighted to announce the initiation of a three-year research and development project entitled ‘Improving tropical legume productivity for marginal environments in Africa’ (TLI), funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The project, which got off to a kicking start at its launch meeting in Rustenburg Kloof, South Africa, from 18-22 September, represents a key new initiative in GCP, as it brings together advanced molecular research labs and national research partners from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Together, they will develop molecular markers for groundnut, cowpea, beans and chickpea. These markers, once validated, will be used to accelerate the development of stress-tolerant legume varieties that meet the needs of smallholder legume farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.
TLI will work alongside its twin project, TLII, whose mandate is seed multiplication and distribution to pave the way for research results from TLI translate into breeding materials for the benefit of resource-poor farmers. TLII is also funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.