Unearthing hidden impacts of CIMMYT’s work: Support documented for more than 800 thesis students

Over the years, CIMMYT has helped guide and support 810 scientists from 76 countries in university studies in agricultural and related sciences, as evidenced by a current list of 884 theses that credit the center, and center staff say that many more students have likely benefited.

One may ask what an international center like CIMMYT does, outside of breeding improved varieties of maize and wheat. Documenting the uptake and use of improved crop varieties is a comparatively straightforward exercise, but CIMMYT has historically invested significant resources in building partnerships and capacity and in sharing knowledge in maize- and wheat-producing countries of the developing world. This is primarily to ensure that suitable varieties actually reach and benefit farmers, but also to promote the other positive spin-offs from agricultural research that help rural families escape poverty. “Enabling” efforts of these types are arguably of great importance, but are harder to document and have tended to remain hidden.

CIMMYT staff have been compiling a list of theses written by university students, largely from developing countries, with mentoring and material support from CIMMYT scientists. To date, the list shows 884 theses presented at 176 academic institutions in 45 countries, representing the work of 810 scientists from 76 countries (see figures below). “The list represents trained scientists who have joined the global pool of agricultural researchers,” says John Woolston, information expert volunteering at CIMMYT, who compiled the list with help from library assistant Lucia Segura. “It’s a way to illustrate the center’s impacts, something that has now become an enduring concern for all CGIAR centers.”

Alumni apply skills in important work
Thesis students who have received CIMMYT support come from diverse regions and disciplines, and many now occupy positions of influence in research and development organizations.

Francisca Acevedo Gasman completed her MSc in plant genetics at the Colegio de Postgraduados in Mexico in 1993, with a study that involved DNA mapping of resistance to leaf rust disease in wheat. She did much of the actual research in CIMMYT’s lab, had a CIMMYT scientist as thesis advisor, and worked in the center’s lab for two years, first as a volunteer then as a technician. She completed a PhD in Molecular Biology at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain, in 1998, and now works as Coordinator for Biosafety and Risk Assessment, in the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO) of Mexico. “I got an introduction to the techniques of molecular genetics in CIMMYT’s lab,” she says. “It was the basis of all I’ve done since—my PhD, my post-graduate studies, and the work I do now. Most of all, it gave me a chance to familiarize myself with these techniques in a global, applied setting.”

Haron Githu Karaya received support and guidance from CIMMYT for his MSc in genetics and plant breeding (2006) at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. The thesis research involved a trial combining maize inbred lines resistant to two important field pests of the crop. He now works as a senior research technician for CIMMYT. “The support and exposure (to knowledge) I got made me who I am today,” says Karaya. “This included skills such as laying out and handling field trials, data analysis, and report writing. I also got practical experience in research—going to the field myself, independent decision-making, and being focused in whatever I do.” Among other things, his experience helped give him the knowledge and confidence to run a maize research station in western Kenya for four years.

The bottom line
Woolston believes the list of theses supported by CIMMYT is incomplete, and so is continuing his search. “There are many more out there, and I’d appreciate any leads people can give me,” he says. In any case, the benefits of CIMMYT partnerships with researchers and other specialists in developing countries go beyond numbers of theses or training course participants, according to CIMMYT Knowledge Sharing and Capacity Building Coordinator, Petr Kosina. “The center cultivates and maintains fruitful, long-term relationships of trust with publicly-funded research organizations, universities, non-government and community-based organizations, farmer associations, farm input providers and machinery manufacturers, and private seed companies, to mention a few,” he says. “Because CIMMYT’s scientific staff number barely 100, such partnerships are crucial to our success as an institution.”

Kosina also says that support for degree students in agricultural science is particularly important now: “Interest in studying agriculture—plant breeding included—has declined for more than a decade, and there is global shortage of skilled, field-oriented plant breeders, agronomists, entomologists, or pathologists.”

For more information: Petr Kosina, CIMMYT Knowledge Sharing and Capacity Building Coordinator (p.kosina@cgiar.org)

Other articles on CIMMYT training activities and impacts:

Capacity building at CIMMYT: Where tried-and-true meets new

CIMMYT’s Formal Training Activities: Perceptions of Impact from Former Trainees, NARS Research Leaders, and CIMMYT Scientists

Drilling down into diversity: DNA fingerprinting for crop plants

See also “the Global Partnership Initiative for Plant Breeding Capacity Building”