2025 EVENT
Highlights from the 2025 Partnerships Event in Cambridge
In October 2025, the Crop Science Centre hosted an International Partnerships Event in Cambridge that put African voices at the centre, built partnerships through interaction, and explored science designed for impact.
The event brought together African and international partners, researchers, breeders, and funders with project teams working across crop resilience, cassava, cereals, legumes, root and tuber crops, plant–microbe interactions, photosynthesis, pest and disease resistance, and translational crop science.
The 2026 Africa Crop Forum builds on the same spirit of connection, interaction and partnership development, while shifting the centre of gravity to Abidjan and placing African-defined crop-system priorities, mentoring and fundable collaborations at the heart of the process.
Key moments from Cambridge 2025
Stories on the road to impact
The event opened with plenary contributions from African and international leaders in agricultural research, policy and discovery science. These sessions established a shared foundation for the meeting and focused attention on translating discovery science into solutions that can work effectively within African farming systems.
Breeder panel discussions
The breeders’ panel brought together representatives from national agricultural research systems and CGIAR centres to describe the realities of delivering new varieties to farmers. Their contributions grounded discussions of priority traits, adoption barriers and technology deployment in the practical demands of farming communities.
Challenge and offer exchange
Participants identified the expertise, data, infrastructure and partnerships they needed to advance their work, alongside what they could offer others. The exchange revealed practical opportunities for collaboration and shared resources across projects and institutions.
Project deep-dive round tables
Project teams used focused round-table discussions to examine research challenges, capacity needs and deployment considerations. The sessions helped partners align work from discovery and trait characterisation through breeding, field trials and scaling.
Flip-chart sessions
Informal flip-chart conversations allowed scientists, funders, university initiatives and early-career researchers to explore ongoing work and emerging ideas together. The open format reduced hierarchy and helped surface shared priorities and opportunities for joint research and funding.
Interested in the Africa Crop Forum 2026?
The 2026 forum builds on the partnership model developed through the 2025 event in Cambridge while focusing on African-led priorities, field realities and future funding opportunities.