Ideas that result in increased coverage of geographic area will be prioritized over ideas that increase diagnostic accuracy. Similarly, ideas that are applicable or adaptable to multiple crops and diseases/pests will be prioritized over ideas that are specific to only one crop or pathogen. Successful proposals will take into account small-scale, difficult-to-reach, intercropped farming systems with multiple pests and diseases. Preliminary data is not required, but proposals should clearly demonstrate how the idea is an innovative leap in progress from current practices with the potential to be transformative at scale. Successful proposals will address data requirements and plans for data acquisition.

In Phase I, awards of up to $100,000 USD are available. Phase I awardees will then have one opportunity to apply for a follow-on Phase II award of up to $1,000,000 USD. GCE is open to both foreign and domestic organizations, including non-profit organizations, for-profit companies, international organizations, government agencies, and academic institutions. Proposals must be submitted prior to the submission deadline of 11:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Sunday, November 14, 2018.

More information on the award, eligibility criteria and instructions on how to apply can be found on The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Grand Challenges website here.

The post The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation invites proposals for the 22nd round of Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) first appeared on AgShare.Today.

Ideas that result in increased coverage of geographic area will be prioritized over ideas that increase diagnostic accuracy. Similarly, ideas that are applicable or adaptable to multiple crops and diseases/pests will be prioritized over ideas that are specific to only one crop or pathogen. Successful proposals will take into account small-scale, difficult-to-reach, intercropped farming systems with multiple pests and diseases. Preliminary data is not required, but proposals should clearly demonstrate how the idea is an innovative leap in progress from current practices with the potential to be transformative at scale.

In Phase I, awards of up to $100,000 USD are available. Phase I awardees will then have one opportunity to apply for a follow-on Phase II award of up to $1,000,000 USD. GCE is open to both foreign and domestic organizations, including non-profit organizations, for-profit companies, international organizations, government agencies, and academic institutions. Proposals must be submitted prior to the submission deadline of 11:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Wednesday, May 2, 2018.

More information on the award, eligibility criteria and instructions on how to apply can be found on The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Grand Challenges website here.

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AgShare.Today has been shortlisted for the 2018 British Expertise International Awards. These awards recognise outstanding international projects, and the AgShare team is very proud that the project has been shortlisted, particularly considering the significant size and capabilities of the other organisations and projects we are competing against. This nomination is not just the result of work by the AgShare core team, but also stems from the hard work and dedication of all of the project’s partners and stakeholders.

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and working in Partnership with Cornell University, AgShare aims to accelerate the outputs and impacts of crop research programmes that aim to combat hunger in Africa. These programmes have received over US$60million in funding from the BMGF and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). AgShare.Today is focused on boosting efficiency and impact by improving collaboration across these projects, building partnerships and ensuring that results and information are shared widely.

The winners of the British Expertise International Awards will be announced in April 2018.

If you would like to know more about AgShare.Today, please email m.millan@agshare.today

The post AgShare.Today nominated for prestigious international award first appeared on AgShare.Today.

This is the first lab of its kind in the Northern region, which covers 19 of Nigeria’s 36 states.  The successful development of the lab (and the adjacent greenhouse) is a result of the hard work of and the strong collaboration between the three BMGF funded projects hosted at KSUSTA – Cassava Viruses in Northern Nigeria Project (CVNNP), Yam Badnavirus Project (YBP) and West African Virus Epidemiology (WAVE) project.

Access to such a well-equipped facility will make a great difference to the way the scientists on these projects work. Previously, scientists had to take samples in person for analysis to institutions in Europe – meaning long delays and extended turnaround times for results. Now the teams have a lab onsite their results will be finalised much quicker, and so more can be achieved within project timeframes. This will have a major, lasting impact on agricultural research in the area, and ultimately on the livelihoods of local farmers.

In the presence of local dignitaries, project partners (national and international) and KSUSTA students, the lab was officially opened by the Honourable Commissioner for Higher Education in Kebbi State, Nigeria – Alh. Maigari Abdullahi Dakingari. We are happy to report that work in the lab is already well underway.

The post First molecular biology lab in Northern Nigeria now open first appeared on AgShare.Today.

24-26 October 2016 saw researchers from across the world descend on London to attend the 2016 Grand Challenges* Conference. The three-day conference saw 1,800 scientists, innovators and policy-makers tackle the most pressing issues of our time. Amongst this number were sixteen members of the AgShare.Today community, who were keen to discuss and present their latest findings with other researchers, donors and experts. One highlight was the CDP team’s discussion with DFID’s Priti Patel (the UK Secretary of State for International Development), where the challenges facing smallholder farmers across Africa were brought to the attention of one of the most powerful voices working in international development.

This was followed by an exciting Lates event held at the Science Museum in London. Here, over 150 researchers and scientists helped thousands of visitors discover more about infectious diseases. During this event, Joseph Ndunguru (CDP) presented a talk to members of the public about the rising threat of CMD and CBSV to cassava production in Africa, and what the CDP team is doing to stop it. Joseph’s trademark humour and oratory skills ensured that this event was a success, with the audience leaving the event far more knowledgeable about some of the risks facing agricultural productivity in Africa than when they arrived.

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* Grand Challenges is a family of initiatives launched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation aimed at fostering innovation to solve key global health and development problems that, if solved, could lead to key advances in preventing, treating, and curing diseases that are prevalent across the developing world.

The post AgShare.Today scientists meet in London for BMGF’s Grand Challenges conference first appeared on AgShare.Today.

On 3 November 2016, 10 scientists from the Cassava Diagnostic Project (CDP) published their work in the prestigious journal Nature: Scientific Reports – making widely available the results of research by a team of 5 women and 5 men from Australia, Tanzania, Uganda and the USA. Their paper focuses on why Cassava Brown Streak Virus (CBSV) has the potential to be more damaging than Ugandan Cassava Brown Streak Virus (UCBSV), and is titled Cassava brown streak virus has a rapidly evolving genome: implications for virus speciation, variability, diagnosis and host resistance.

The scientists used whole genome sequences from Next-Generation Sequencing data to create an innovative framework that treats these two groups of viruses as separate species. This analysis led to the discovery that not only does CBSV evolve faster than UCBSV, but that the mutations which result in physical changes are more common across the entire CBSV genome. This suggests that CBSV may be ‘outsmarting’ the immune system of the cassava, making it more destructive and harder to control than UCBSV.

These are crucial findings that will go a long way towards helping the smallholder farmers dealing with the devastation caused by these viruses.

The paper can be read here: Alicai, T., Ndunguru, J., Sseruwagi, P., Tairo, F., Okao-Okuja, G. Nanvubya, R., Kiiza, L., Kubatko, K., Kehoe, M.A., and Boykin, L.M. 2016. Cassava brown streak virus has a rapidly evolving genome: implications for virus speciation, variability, diagnosis and host resistance. Scientific Reports. 

For more information on the AgShare.Today project and its work, please contact l.ulanowski@agshare.today

The post Cassava Diagnostic Project scientists publish paper in Nature journal first appeared on AgShare.Today.