Table 1 Organizations involved in the Cowpea Productivity Improvement Project
Partner | Responsibility | Sector | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) | Core Partner: Researching transformation methods | Public | Project Development and Technical |
International institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) | Core Partner: Working with CSIRO on transformation | Public | Project Development and Technical |
Monsanto Company | Core Partner: Provides insecticide gene, Cry1ab | Private | Project Development and Technical |
The Kirkhouse Trust | Core Partner: Provides funding for research | Public | Funding |
Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR), Zaria, Nigeria National Agricultural Research Systems in target countries of West Africa | Core Partner: Institutional biosafety committee; submitted application for confined field trials (CFT) Responsible for gene introgression into local cowpea varieties | Public | Project Development and Technical |
Institut de l’Environnement et Recherches Agricoles (INERA), Burkina Faso | Core Partner: Helped identify field testing sites, CFT applications | Public | Project Development and Technical |
National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Nigeria | Core Partner: Technical implementation, and regulatory affairs. | Public | Technology development |
African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) | Core Partner: Technology acquisition, seed issues | Public | Project Development and Technical |
Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS) | Regulatory support to NBC/Nigeria and CFT implementation at IAR. Technical training. | Public | Regulatory support |
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) | Funder to CSIRO’s efforts, AATF and PBS | Public | Funder |
Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) | Supervises agricultural research | Public | Project Development and Technical |
National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) in target countries of West Africa | Gene introgression into local cowpea varieties | Public | Project Development and Technical |
Rockefeller Foundation | Contributed funds to CSIRO efforts | Public | Funder |
National Biosafety Committee (NBC) | Serve as advisory body to the Competent National Authority for Biosafety in Nigeria (Ministry of Environment) | Public | Regulatory authority |