An initiative of the CGIAR

Adoption of modern breeding in developing countries: The

Generation Challenge Programme experience- can it work?

UC Davis Plant Breeding Symposium April 10th, 2015

Jean-Marcel Ribaut

Photo credit: Neil Palmer/CIAT

Our Discussion Today:

♦ The challenges

♦ GCP: Introduction and achievements

♦ The Integrated Breeding Platform

♦ BMS deployment plan

♦ Brain-drain and capacity building

♦ Lessons learnt and legacy

♦ Conclusion and perspectives

Adoption of Modern Breeding: The Big Challenges (most of the time)

The technical component Poor field infrastructure Limited IT

Hardware Software Internet connection

Limited access to laboratories Financial component Limited breeding activities, research driven by donors Limited professional development and staff motivation Human component Capacity building Brain-drain Good breeders are very busy people

GCP: Intro and Achievements

GCP in Brief A CGIAR Challenge Programme hosted at CIMMYT 10-year framework (Phase I, 2004–2008; Phase II, 2009–2014) US$ 170 M program Target zones: drought-prone environments

Sub-Saharan Africa, South & South East Asia, L. America Eighteen CGIAR mandate crops in Phase I Nine CGIAR mandate crops in Phase II

Cereals: maize, rice, sorghum, wheat, Legumes: beans, chickpea, cowpea, groundnut Roots and tubers: cassava

Strategic objective: To use genetic diversity and advanced plant science to

improve crops for greater food security in the developing world

GCP: A broker in plant science bridging the gap between upstream and applied science

www.generationcp.org

Translational Research A “Must Have” for impact on the ground A lot of good intention but still too little impact Research: Link upstream with applied research with well

defined delivery pipeline Examples of initiatives: Gates Foundation projects, African Orphan

Crop Consortium, NGGIBCI, GCP, others Deployment and sustainable adoption: Still the major

challenge Paternalistic approaches Maintain scientist/breeder excitement about their work (capacity

building, funds, recognition, partnerships, professional development, etc)

It starts by implementing good practice

Impact of translational biology often relies on change management and the human component should not be

underestimated

The sorghum case: From Cornell to African farmers’ fields with a stopover in Brazil: a ten-year effort

Step 1: Competitive Project (initiated 2004) Led by Cornell in collaboration with EMBRAPA Plantlets screened under hydroponics – Alt1 gene cloned

Magalhaes et al. 2007, Nature Genetics, 39: 1156–1151

Step 2: Competitive Project (initiated 2007) Led by EMBRAPA in collaboration with Cornell Favourable alleles identified – Improved germplasm for

Brazil Caniato et al. 2011, PLoS One 6, e20830

Step 3: Commissioned work (initiated 2009) Led by Moi University in collaboration with EMBRAPA Introgression of favourable alleles – Improved germplasm

for Kenya and Niger

Linking Upstream with Applied Science

Indicators Money allocation to partners Significant in-kind contribution from partners Open exchange of experience and information Partners not necessarily attracted (purely) by money, but to be part

of a network, visibility and exchanges with peers abroad Critical but indispensable intangibles – trust and goodwill Partners continue to work together after GCP projects end

Evolution of roles and responsibilities A switch: Leaders become mentors Knowledge applied & transferred: Trainees become doers & leaders In Phase II, more than half of our PIs are from developing countries

and more than half the grants go directly to National Programmes

It takes time and resources to nurture and implement true partnership!

True Partnerships

Genetic resources Reference sets for 18 crops (all CGIAR mandate crops)

Genomic resources Markers for orphan crops

Informative markers Drought, viruses and insect resistance

Genes/QTL AltSB for Al tolerance, Pup1 for P uptake efficiency, Saltol for salt tolerance

and Sub1 for submergence tolerance Improved germplasm New bioinformatic tools (data management, diversity studies,

breeding, etc) Enhanced capacity for MAB in NARS programmes

Human resource capacity / physical infrastructure / analytical power Ex-ante analyses of MAB impact in developing countries

Product catalogue: www.generationcp.org/impact/product-catalogue

Selected Major Research Outputs

The Integrated Breeding Platform

IBP Purpose and Targets Overall Objective: National program, CGIAR centre and SME plant breeding programs serving South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, with spillovers to other regions in the developing world, will be using modern breeding information management, decision support, and DNA marker technologies to increase the rate of genetic gain, productivity and quality in staple food crops

Impact indicator: Number of cultivars (across all crops) produced using the BMS and related

services that are grown in farmers’ fields

Cumulative milestone (2015-19) At least 100 breeding teams will release cultivars (across all crops)

produced using the BMS and related services in farmers’ fields

Breeders: Increase data quality, documentation and exchange Savings in time and cost to run breeding activities Increased genetic progress per crop cycle

Value proposition

Institutional management: Improved institutional data management Better product at lower price (efficiency and effectiveness) Increase value proposition to attract funds

Society: Improved crops (quality-yield) in farmers’ fields More income for smallholder farmers More and better food to feed the world

From Phase I to Phase II Phase I:

2009-14: $22M ($12M B&MGF) under the leadership of the GCP

Phase II: 2014-19: $24M ($16M secured) under the leadership of the IBP

Key milestones: BMS v1: Stand-alone, June 2013 BMS v5: Commercial, December 2015

Implementation of business plan: Subsidized users: Public sector in developing countries Paying users: Private and public sectors in developed countries

Deployment of the BMS is not just about adopting new technology; it is about changing the way of doing breeding

Focuses on sustainable adoption of good breeding practices, starting with suitable, modern data management.

Numbers of organisations with plant breeding activities (per site)

Continent Total SME Commercial

Top 10 IARI Universities NARS

Africa 279 56 11 30 72 110

Asia 1,628 889 28 12 301 398

Europe 1,306 640 121 0 94 181

Latin America 484 190 33 3 84 174

North America 361 153 56 0 76 76

Oceania 102 56 6 0 18 22

Grand Total 3,890 1,984 255 45 645 961

Target users: Primary target: Breeding Programmes in developing countries Secondary target: Basically anyone running breeding activities

IBP General Overview

The Integrated Breeding Platform https://www.integratedbreeding.net

Breeding Management System A suite of interconnected software tools and applications specifically designed to help breeders manage their day-to-day activities:

Programme management Customise preferences and monitor programme activities from the Workbench, a dashboard application with integrated tools to manage and query crop information across the system

Marker-assisted breeding Select germplasm and design crosses by complementing phenotypic selection with marker technology, for integrated breeding decisions

Breeding activities Prepare trials and nurseries, manage seed inventories and keep continuous genealogy records season after season

Statistical analysis Analyse field and lab data with powerful statistics and mixed model comparisons of locations and genotypes

To be successful in enhancing plant breeding efficiency in developing countries, we need to deliver much more than a simple

analytical pipeline!

For breeders in developing countries the adoption and implementation of the BMS as a day to day routine platform is a revolution!

The establishment of reliable, locally based,

support services is critical for adoption!

Key Principles for Modern Breeding Adoption in Developing Countries

Breeding Services & Products

https://www.integratedbreeding.net

The Support Services Considering the nature of the IBP and the very diverse potential users of the BMS, it is critical to provide top-quality support services to promote adoption and to ensure sustainable use

Professional Support to be provided in three ways: Client-oriented, customised breeding support primarily targeting

developing-country breeders Capacity building support to provide professional and comprehensive

training in using the tools Interaction with peers through social networks and CoPs

Technical Support to be provided at two levels to all users: Level 1: installation technical support

• To overcome any difficulties in downloading, installing and getting started with the BMS and related tools

Level 2: operational technical support • for users that might encounter problems in day-to-day use of the BMS and

related tools

Central Support Team: Managers plus specialists

DB/DM BMS CB

Breeding

BMS Sustainable Support Service

BMS Adoption: 3 teams Customized and punctual support

Delivery Model – Network of Hubs

IBP General Overview

BMS Deployment Plan

IBP deployment: Key steps Identification of potential champion(s) in target institute/program; Individual needs assessment, including development of champion(s)

through personalised training (one crop cycle); Training of the next tier of champions, (one crop cycle); Institutional needs assessment and formal commitment of upper

management; Institutional deployment plan; Implementation of the plan by training of the rest of

the institute/program, led by internal champions with the support of the IBP implementation team (one-two crop cycles); and

On-going maintenance and trouble-shooting as required From institute/program/NARS support/IT staff From IBP regional hub).

The Snowball approach!

Brain-Drain and Capacity Building

1990 2000 Total African labour force (in thousands) 227,338 298,112 Total African skilled labour (in thousands) 5,842 11,896 Percentage of skilled labour to total labour force 3% 4% Total emigrants from Africa (in thousands) 2,911 4,497 Skilled emigrants from Africa (in thousands) 652 1,388 Percentage of skilled emigrants to total immigrants 22% 31% % of skilled immigrants to the total skilled labour force 10.0 % 10.4 %

10 of Africa’s 53 countries have lost more than 35% of their tertiary-educated labour force, suffering massive brain-drain:

Cape Verde 68% Gambia 63% Seychelles 56% Mauritius 56% Sierra Leone 53% Ghana 47% Mozambique 45% Liberia 45% Kenya 38% Uganda 36%

EMIGRATION RATES FOR SKILLED PEOPLE FROM AFRICA

Extracted from Marfouk, A. 2007, ‘The African brain-drain: Scope and determinants’ https://dipot.ulb.ac.be/dspace/bitstream/2013/13586/1/dul- 0071.pdf

Public sector losing staff to the private sector and international institutions in-country: Better terms of service Better facilities and other work resources Opportunity to directly benefit from work results, e.g. commercialised

varieties Opportunities for international work in overseas branches

Developing nations losing scientists to the developed world All of the above! Opportunities for cutting-edge science Opportunities for personal recognition – e.g. publications in journals Opportunities for interaction with ‘professional heavy-weights’ Opportunities for continuing education, professional development

Can only be mitigated, not eliminated

The Situation: Brain-drain at Two Levels

Employment policy measures Enhanced terms of service, including increased salaries Contracts requiring minimum periods of service, post-training

Creative alternatives Negotiated ‘circular migration’ which would also bring new skills and

knowledge – professional exchange programmes Policies to attract native professionals working overseas –

controversial!

Potential institutional measures Improved facilities Capacity to do and participate in exciting projects Partnerships with institutions overseas with tangible benefits to staff

Mid-term strategic changes Greater investment in agricultural research directly through NARS Accelerated national economic development – ‘reverse brain-drain’ Home-country training to replace those that leave

Mitigating Brain-Drain

Eastern & Southern Africa – West and Central Africa – South & Southeast Asia

YEAR 1

MB project Initiation Intro to some MB approaches

Field data analysis Mgnt of breeding data Field trial Mgnt system Trainees community

YEAR 2

Updates on tools of year1 Adv molecular analysis

Genotypic data Mgnt system Marker–trait associations

Tools for MTA Trainees community

YEAR 3

Updates on tools of year1s&2 Configurable workflow

Genetic diversity analysis Association mapping

Partner specific projects Trainees community

WUR team, DM CoP & other technical trainers

Specific training: Local level

Specific Language Different level:

Technicians

Integrated Breeding Multiyear Course (IB–MYC)

ESA WCA SSEA

IB–MYC trainees 2012-2014 170 breeders; 10 crops; 31 countries

Dissemination of Knowledge using IBP Self-contained manual and tutorials for IBP tools

Tutorial to be embedded in the tools, each step linked to video, related e-learning material, quizzes, case studies

Access to relevant learning material: Support material in an e-learning format (customisable depending on the

audience (http://passel.unl.edu/communities/ibp)

Interaction with Universities Curriculum for breeders (ISU) with BMS as the means of implementation

African Plant Breeding Academy, UC-Davis, ACCI, WACCI, etc.

One-stop user access to: Tools and services to put knowledge into practice

Social networks of peers (question–answer, advice forum)

Integrated approach: learning as you go

Lessons Learnt

Challenges: Most of the breeders in the developing world capture their data

by hand and store them in hard copy (book) In general, protective and proprietary attitude prevents data

sharing Not a top priority, no clear resource allocation, data still in the

hands of individual scientists One of the major challenges in collaborative efforts

Implementation: Clear DM policy in place at the institutional level Quality and documentation improved thanks to:

Adoption of new data capture tools with predefined templates Proper budget allocation including support staff Part of the staff evaluation process Donor requirement beforehand

Quality control must start at the scientist level

Data Management (A Key Technical Hitch)

Capacity Building CB conducted in isolation from research is of little value There is a need to optimise and maximise CB in developing

countries through better coordination of on-going efforts! Today the relevance of CB on technology per se, and even

“mechanical” data analysis, is decreasing – outsourcing to specialist service providers

Rather, CB should focus on strategic approaches, adoption of good practice, data interpretation and problem-solving

The learning-by-doing concept appears to be a promising and sustainable approach for professional development

Brain-drain is reduced if scientists can conduct exciting research and be a part of international efforts

The community-networking element is also key to retain skilled people

Trainees are Tomorrow’s Partners Training not only about knowledge per se! It promotes the development of a true CoP, with a strong

team spirit: after 3 courses of 2 weeks each, they know each other well!

Establish the basis for sustainable adoption of the technology Trainees become:

Trainers (knowledge dissemination)

Mentors (helping others)

Champions (testimony)

Ambassadors (promotion)

Needs to be adjusted to crop cycle, every six months?

IB–MYC is a good model for implementation at the regional level

IBP Deployment: Lessons Learnt Do not rely on upper management alone, top-down directives

rarely work (in the public sector ) Engage at the breeder level and support and mentor

enthusiastic breeders (champions) Funding alone is not sufficient incentive

GSS and fingerprinting experience during IBP Phase 1

But, resource allocation to support adoption in a sustainable way is a clear “must have”

An holistic approach is essential during the needs assessment GCP experience has demonstrated the necessity for a range of

complementary activities and investments beyond the BMS

Most people are reluctant or resistant to change, even where there are clear and demonstrable benefits from making a change

Most changes can be implemented only by: Strong bottom-up demand

Strong and clear support from upper management

Need to be ready to: Change the way you do business

Dedicate time to learn new things

Share results/methods in an open manner

Adopt a corporate and some times entrepreneurial spirit

Enforcement and implementation Big difference between the private and public sectors

Need to nurture a culture of change

To Change People’s Behavior: A (THE) Major Challenge!

Keep in mind that:

In developing countries you breed mainly for resilience, not genetic gain per se (less loss, not larger gains)

Very diverse target environments

Grain yield not the only driver for staple crops

So:

No car if a bicycle will do the job!

What works in developed countries, might not be most suitable in developing countries Reduced breeding history

G x E, germplasm structure, abiotic stresses, additivity vs dominance, etc

Be careful not to be technology driven

Give Breeders What they Need! Not what we believe will be good for them

Genomics: Thanks to new sequencing technologies the crop genome is unveiled today! Now what do we do with that?

Conclusions and Perspectives

Access to suitable tools and analytical pipeline is not a key limitation anymore

Technology development is without doubt the easier part of the equation

More focus and effort on sustainable deployment and adoption of modern approaches

But in the right context!!!! Modernisation of plant breeding programs is a change management

process; it is not simply a matter of introducing a new technology and tools and expecting institutions to embrace change

Modern Breeding in developing countries: Can it work ? (I)

One size doesn’t fit all!

Time is right (and ripe!) to make a change: Capacity in most target countries is increasing significantly

Human capacity: fast progress Infrastructure: can be improved, but we are getting there….

Increasing Investments Major public investments, more direct support to NARS But, to be a grantee, need base level capacity Increasing interest from “Big Brother” in the private sector

Development and effective international partnership Growing interest and effort in translational research Solid international networking (e.g. CRPs, Gates’ Initiatives, GCP) More presence of regional organizations (e.g. CORAF) Promotion of data access and exchange of information (Open access

policy adopted and implemented) So YES, it can work!

Modern Breeding in developing countries: Can it work ? (II)

Thank you! Thank you!