Dr. Siraj Ismail Kayondo is a distinguished Cassava Molecular Breeder at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). He leads a multidisciplinary cassava molecular breeding research team, focusing on accelerating genetic improvement through field breeding, genomic selection (GS), and marker-assisted selection (MAS). Dr. Kayondo holds a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics from the University of Ghana and has extensive field experience across East and West Africa. His groundbreaking Ph.D. research explored the genetic architecture of resistance to Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) using advanced genomics tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the Regional Cassava Breeder for East Africa, Dr. Kayondo has spearheaded transformative breeding programs emphasizing dual resistance to CBSD and Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD), yield improvement, and superior root quality traits. His efforts have led to the historic release of genomically selected cassava varieties in Nigeria and the deployment of disease-resistant varieties in East Africa. Dr. Kayondo\u2019s leadership extends to high-impact initiatives such as the NextGen Cassava Breeding Project, RTB Breeding Project, and BASICS-II. He has also strengthened regional breeding networks, resource mobilization, and high-throughput phenotyping methods. Beyond his technical achievements, he is committed to mentoring young scientists and ensuring that research outcomes directly benefit farmers and communities, advancing food security and livelihoods across Africa.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dr. Siraj Ismail Kayondo is a distinguished Cassava Molecular Breeder at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). He leads […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"full-width-container","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"disabled","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":[],"ast-content-background-meta":[]},"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[27],"hub":[62],"crop":[],"staff-type":[],"class_list":["post-12175","staff","type-staff","status-publish","hentry","location-tanzania","hub-eastern-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/staff\/12175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/staff"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/staff"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/staff\/12175\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"science-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/science-area?post=12175"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=12175"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=12175"},{"taxonomy":"hub","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub?post=12175"},{"taxonomy":"crop","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/crop?post=12175"},{"taxonomy":"staff-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/staff-type?post=12175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}