Prof. Eric Yirenkyi Danquah features in “100 Most Reputable Africans” list for 2024

Prof. Eric Yirenkyi Danquah features in “100 Most Reputable Africans” list for 2024 by Reputation Poll

Professor Eric Yirenkyi Danquah has been listed as one of the “100 Most Reputable Africans” list for 2024″ by Reputation Poll.

Professor Eric Yirenkyi Danquah is the founding Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI).

Prof. Eric Yirenkyi Danquah. He is the founding Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) at the University of Ghana. He is a Professor of Plant Genetics at the Department of Crop Science and also serves as the Director of the Biotechnology Centre of the University of Ghana.

Educational background: Prof. Eric Yirenkyi Danquah

• Prof. Danquah attended the Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School, Legon.
• He pursued Basic Education at the Akosombo Experimental School.
• He earned BSc in Agriculture at the University of Ghana.
• He further pursued an MPhil in Plant Breeding and a PhD in Genetics at the University of Cambridge, UK.
• He was employed by the University of Ghana as a lecturer at the Department of Crop Science after returning to Ghana in 1994.
• Prof. Danquah rose through the ranks and became a full professor in 2007.

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Roles/positions served in university

• Head of Crop Science Department, Senior Hall Tutor of Legon Hall, and Dean of International Programmes.

Projects & achievements/impacts

• More than a decade on, Prof. Danquah’s WACCI-led project has attracted over US$ 30 million in research and development funds to the University of Ghana.
• The centre has enrolled more than 126 Ph.D. students in Plant Breeding and 49 MPhil students in Seed Science and Technology from 19 African countries.
• The centre has graduated 66 Ph.D. and 7 MPhil students who are leading plant breeding programmes in national agricultural research institutions in Africa.
• Graduates from WACCI have released over 60 improved seed varieties that are expected to boost food and nutrition security in many communities throughout the sub-region as well as lift millions out of poverty in the decade ahead.
• Here in Ghana for instance, WACCI under the leadership of Prof. Danquah has developed superior maize hybrid varieties, with yields of up to 11 tonnes per hectare (compared to the national average of 1.7 tonnes per hectare obtained on farmers’ fields using traditional maize varieties) which have been released for commercialisation to help boost yield for the benefit of ordinary farmers years ago. 

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Prof. Eric Yirenkyi Danquah: Awards

• Prof. Eric Yirenkyi Danquah is a recipient of a number of local and international awards including the University of Ghana Distinguished Award for Meritorious Service in 2013.
• He received the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for Agricultural and Life Sciences (GCHERA) World Agriculture Prize in 2018 for his significant contribution to the mission of the University of Ghana through education, research, and knowledge transfer for the benefit of society.
• Prof Danquah is the youngest and first African to win the prize which was established in 2013.
• The Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana in 2018 also awarded Prof. Danquah and WACCI with the Outstanding Academic Leadership Award at the Chamber’s awards night ceremony to recognize his efforts and contribution to the development of agribusiness on the continent.
• Prof. Danquah was once appointed a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Standing Advisory Group for Nuclear Applications (SAGNA) which provides advice to the Director General of IAEA on the Agency’s activities in the application of nuclear techniques carried out within the programmes of the Department of Nuclear Science and Applications.

SOURCE: Coverghana.com.gh