A Chief Research Scientist, Prof. Maxwell Darko Asante has been appointed as the new Director of the CSIR-Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI), Ghana’s foremost agricultural research institute.

Prof. Asante, a research scientist with over two decades of experience in agricultural research and development, assumes the role effective February 1, 2025.

He succeeds the late Prof. Moses Brandford Mochiah, who served as Director from July 2019 to July 2024.

A Distinguished Career

Before his appointment, Prof. Asante served as the Deputy Director of the CSIR-CRI from January, 2022 to February, 2024 and the Head of the Institute’s Cereals Improvement Programme from 2017 to 2019.  He is widely recognized for his leadership in rice breeding across Africa.

Prof. Asante’s career spans over twenty years with significant achievements in plant breeding. As the Rice Breeding Lead at CSIR-CRI, Prof. Asante has been instrumental in developing and releasing over twenty (20) climate-resilient rice varieties that have been widely adopted by farmers across Ghana.

He has dedicated his career to achieving rice self-sufficiency and enhancing food security in Ghana.  His research has contributed to increasing agricultural productivity and improved the livelihoods of rice farmers in Ghana.

Prof. Darko Asante’s current research focuses on developing high-yielding, climate-smart rice varieties tolerant to major biotic and abiotic stresses, utilizing conventional, DNA marker-assisted, and biotechnology approaches.

He leads the breeding modernization effort at CSIR-CRI and consulted for the CGIAR Excellence in Breeding (EiB) programme (now known as Breeding and Research Services) in 2021 to modernize breeding programs in Ghana and other African countries. He has also consulted for AGRA and GIZ-MOVE.

Awards

Prof. Asante's outstanding contributions have earned him numerous accolades. In 2018, he won the National Best Agricultural Scientist at the 34^th National Farmers Day. Prof. Asante was also selected as the best research scientist at the CSIR-Crops Research Institute in 2017. He was also awarded as the Most Influential WACCI Alumnus in 2023. Additionally, his rice breeding team won the Best Rice Breeding Program Award by KAFACI in 2023.

Prof. Asante holds academic affiliations as an Associate Professor in Plant Breeding and Genetics at the CSIR College of Science and Technology (CCST), Kumasi, Ghana. He is a Guest Lecturer at the Pan African University Life and Earth Sciences Institute (PAULESI), University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria and an Associate Faculty at the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, Legon.

Educational Background and Professional Achievements

Prof. Asante obtained a BSc. (Agriculture) degree and a Diploma in Education from the University of Cape Coast in 1998. He also holds an MSc. (Plant Breeding) from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (2004), and a Ph.D. (Plant Breeding) from the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, Legon (2012). Recently, he completed an MSc. in Strategic Management and Leadership from KNUST and is awaiting graduation in March this year. He is a graduate of Class III of the African Plant Breeding Academy and the Gender-Responsive Cereal Grain Breeding Course (GREAT). He mentors women in Agricultural Science under the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) program.

He has authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications comprising refereed journal papers in highly-rated international journals, book chapters, and conference papers and has attracted over USD 4.5 million in research and infrastructure support to the CSIR-CRI. His exceptional skills has seen him served as Principal Investigator for over 10 research projects funded by prominent donors, including USAID, BMGF, AGRA, IFAD, and RDA, Korea.

Prof. Asante is a well-travelled scientist, and has attended conferences, workshops, and training programs globally. He was a visiting scientist at the Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics, Cornell University, and the USDA, ARS-Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center, USA in 2006 and 2011, respectively. He also served as the President of the CSIR-CRI branch of the Research Staff Association (RSA) of Ghana from 2017 to 2020.  He is married with three children.

Prof. Asante hopes to strengthen the Institute’s research capacity, foster innovation, and enhance collaboration with local and international partners to address the pressing challenges facing agriculture today. He acknowledges the importance of leveraging modern technologies, such as genomic tools and precision agriculture, to improve crop yields, enhance nutrition and ensure sustainability.

Challenges Ahead

The appointment comes at a critical time when Ghana’s agricultural sector is grappling with challenges such as climate change, soil degradation, and post-harvest losses.

Under Prof. Asante’s leadership, CSIR-CRI is expected to play a pivotal role in developing innovative solutions to these issues.

His expertise positions him well to lead the institute in addressing these challenges in collaboration with the Ghanaian government, the private sector, stakeholders in Ghana as well as international partners.

About CSIR-CRI

The CSIR-Crops Research Institute, headquartered in Kumasi, is Ghana’s leading research institution dedicated to agricultural science. Established in 1964, the institute focuses on the development of improved crop varieties and sustainable farming practices to enhance agricultural productivity and livelihoods.

With Prof. Maxwell Darko Asante at the helm, CSIR-CRI is poised to continue its vital work in addressing the challenges of food security and sustainable agriculture, not only in Ghana but across the African continent.