ACGT joins conversation to plot legacy for Generation Challenge Programme

As the Generation Challenge Programme (GCP) looks to its sunset in 2013, the African Centre for Gene Technologies (ACGT) was recently represented at meetings held to discuss the Programme’s evolution and consortium members’ roles in its legacy.

As from October 2011, ACGT Manager Dr John Becker took over the role of ACGT representative on the GCP Consortium Committee from Dr Rachel Chikwamba. In the run-up to his new position, Dr Becker attended the GCP Consortium Committee Meeting on 20 September and General Research Meeting on the 21st in Hyderabad, India.

According to Dr Becker, this year’s meetings held particular significance in view of the fact that the GCP mother-body, CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research), is going through a process of reform and, as such, all GCP projects will terminate at the end of 2014. “The Consortium Committee Meeting focussed on discussing issues around the transition strategy, the termination agreement and seeing what can be done after the GCP formally comes to an end”.

He adds that there was a strong feeling among participants that, wherever possible, efforts should continue to be made post-termination to capture and extend the value obtained through the GCP. “The results and data coming from the GCP projects were really very encouraging. Aluminium tolerance, for instance, came out as one of the early winners and got very good internal reviews”, he said.

Read more of this story at the ACGT Newsroom.