March 8 is when the world comes together in solidarity to celebrate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements, and advancement of women on International Women’s Day. It is also a day to specifically call attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence against women.
At the National Crops Resources Research Institute, we espouse gender equity and are keen to ensure that women and girls remain central to our work. From celebrated scientists to communicators and outreach specialists as well as model farmers, women are providing unique value and insights that are shaping our work. Starting March 1, 2021, we shone a spotlight on some of our outstanding ladies in agricultural research.
Below we are sharing brief profiles of a select few of these outstanding ladies who, through their knowledge, passion and resolve have made fundamental contributions to our vision of transforming livelihoods and fostering socio-economic development through cutting edge crop research for development.
Enjoy!
Dr. Gorrettie Ssemakula
Dr. Goretti Ssemakula is a Principal Research Officer, sweet potato breeder and geneticist based at the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI). She has been at the forefront of research and development of more nutritious and better performing crops for decades! Her impressive repertoire includes the award-winning Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP)—a critical source of essential Vitamin A and calories for over 500,000 farming households in Uganda.
While heading our sweet potato program (2009-2013), she spearheaded the development and release of six Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato varieties that are currently popular with farmers. Gorretti has also applied her expertise in cassava research at the national & international level. Thanks to her work, 12 resistant varieties were released that contributed to restoration of food security in Uganda following a severe pandemic of cassava mosaic disease in the ’90s.
Gorretti is the East African representative on the International Society for Root and Tuber Crops-Africa branch. She’s also a member of numerous global & local scientific societies.
Dr. Pamela Paparu
Dr. Pamela Paparu is a Senior Research Officer and plant pathologist based at the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) . She is at the vanguard of cutting edge research to improve the productivity of common beans—a key source of protein in Sub-saharan Africa.
Pamela’s work focuses on development of integrated management practices for control of bean diseases, mapping disease incidence and severity, pathogen characterization and development of strategies to limit yield losses due to bean root rot, angular leaf spot and bean anthracnose—the top three diseases responsible for massive yield losses in Uganda.
Pamela is also actively involved in supervising and mentoring MSc. and PhD students, and contributes to the development of science by reviewing reputable journal articles and examining student theses from different universities in Uganda.
Pamela has won international competitive research grants and partnered with universities and research organizations in USA, UK, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania to conduct research to generate new knowledge that will ultimately increase productivity for smallholder farmers in sub Saharan Africa.
She holds a PhD in pathology from the University of Pretoria.
NaCRRI Updates 