GREAT Blog
25 June 2018
Evaluating the effectiveness of any program is complex, and particularly challenging for projects like GREAT, which seek to build skills and shift mindsets. For more insight into evaluation and impact assessment from the perspective of a donor, we spoke with Vicki Wilde, Senior Program Officer... more
28 March 2018
It’s been a little over a year since the NextGen Cassava and HarvestPlus Nigeria team graduated from the GREAT Gender-Responsive Root, Tuber and Banana Breeding course (GREAT RTB). As GREAT RTB fellows, we were equipped to transform Africa’s agriculture by applying our gender lens. Eager and... more
23 March 2018
The GREAT Gender-responsive Cereal Grains Breeding Course in Uganda surpassed my expectations. Week One was held in August 2018 and Week Two in January 2018. The experience transformed my thoughts about research and the driving force behind my efforts as a wheat breeder.
My institute, the Kenya... more
28 February 2018
Among the important staple food crops, cassava is nothing short of a powerhouse. Because of it, smallholder farmers have been able to feed their families and control domestic demands through income from cassava production. Though many obstacles stand in the way of most cassava producers in West... more
10 November 2017
Incorporating gender-responsiveness can be a challenge for any breeding program when formal training or relevant prior experience is missing, but for research teams working within conflict zones, there is an additional and entirely different set of challenges to overcome. One team from our on-... more
01 November 2017
Deborah Rubin, standing, checks in on a group's work during the GREAT roots, tubers and bananas course
It was in May 2014 that I first got involved in what has become the Gender-Responsive Researchers Equipped for Agricultural Transformation program or GREAT. I’d been invited to a gathering of... more
19 September 2017
ZOMBO, UGANDA – This October, researchers with the Next Generation Cassava Breeding project (NextGen Cassava) will launch their first gender-responsive participatory variety selection (PVS) trials in Uganda, after project researchers attended the GREAT Gender-Responsive Root, Tuber and Banana... more
29 August 2017
As we wrapped up Week 1 of the Gender-Responsive Cereal Grains Breeding Course in Kampala, we caught up with three GREAT participants to see what inspired them to join GREAT, and get their impressions on the course so far. We'll feature additional voices in the months to come. To learn more about... more
09 August 2017
For Lilian Nkengla, the start this week of the GREAT Gender-Responsive Cereal Grains Breeding course will be both familiar and completely new.
As a participant in the first GREAT course last year, Nkengla, from Cameroon, worked alongside her colleague from the International Institute of Tropical... more
06 July 2017
In Nigeria, the world’s largest producer and consumer of cassava, Vitamin A deficiency affects 30 percent of children under the age of 5 (World Health Organization estimates), resulting in reduced immunity, impaired vision, and, in some cases, even blindness and death. Furthermore, these health... more