September 2022
Global Biotech Potato Partnership
The Feed the Future Global Biotech Potato Partnership is a five-year, multi-institution cooperative agreement with USAID to introduce bio-engineered potato products in farmer-preferred varieties into Africa and Asia. The biotech potato offers broad-spectrum stacked gene resistance to late blight (Phytophthora infestans), the most devastating potato disease in the world. Focal countries include Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, and Nigeria.
Technical advisory board named to support Global Biotech Potato Partnership
The Feed the Future Global Biotech Potato Partnership technical advisory board (TAB) reviews the quality and pertinence of the science and technologies used in the project and provides strategic guidance on multiple topics, including advocacy, communication, fundraising, risk mitigation, and ethical issues.

In this newsletter, we introduce TAB members Jonathan Jones and Muffy Koch. 
Jonathan Jones - Sainsbury Laboratory
Jonathan D G Jones is a plant molecular geneticist who has made distinctive contributions to understanding how plants resist disease, and to how pathogens circumvent host immune mechanisms.

Since 1988, Jonathan has worked at the Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich UK. He was elected member of European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 1998, Fellow of Royal Society in 2003 and International Member of the US National Academy of Sciences in 2015. In 2012 he was awarded the U Minnesota Stakman prize. He is a Professor at the University of East Anglia. He has served as advisor to the Danforth Centre in St Louis and is an advisor to the 2Blades Foundation and to KAUST in Saudi Arabia.
Muffy Koch - Simplot Plant Sciences
Muffy Koch is a senior regulatory manager at the J.R. Simplot Company and has 34 years of experience in the regulation and safety assessment of genetically modified organisms.

She was educated and trained in South Africa, as a botanist and microbiologist and is now based in Boise, Idaho where she works to confirm the safety of new potato varieties.
Project Country Updates
KENYA
Project launch event
A project launch event for the Global Biotech Potato Partnership was organized by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) in June at KALRO headquarters. KALRO serves as the Kenyan research partner for the project.

The event convened 34 representatives from numerous organizations including KALRO, project partners the International Potato Center (CIP), the African Agriculture Technology Foundation (AATF), and Michigan State University. Also in attendance was the Kenyan National Biosafety Authority (NBA), the National Potato Council of Kenya (NPCK) and USAID Kenya Mission.

Participants endorsed the plan of activity by KALRO to test, in confined field trials, the 3R gene late blight disease resistant biotech potatoes. During plenary discussion, participants highlighted the need to deploy the biotech potato to farmers in Kenya because of disease severity and that the necessary fungicides required to control late blight are costly and not always available.
BANGLADESH
Farming Future Bangladesh to provide local communication and advocacy project support
The Global Biotech Potato Partnership is pleased to have engaged Farming Future Bangladesh (FFB) to provide project management and communication and advocacy support.

FFB, based in Dhaka, is a science and evidence-based comprehensive communication and community engagement and empowerment organization aimed to improve access to modern agricultural innovations including crop biotechnology for sustainable food security in Bangladesh.

MD. Arif Hossain (pictured below left), FFB's CEO and Executive Director, will serve as Country Lead and Coordinator Advocacy and Communication for the project.

Ananya Sanyal (pictured below right), Senior Manager, Project Management and Communication for FFB will work closely with the project management team to plan and execute in-country activities and events that support the project communication and advocacy strategy.
NIGERIA
Project launch event
A project launch event was organized by the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) Umudike in June 2022 at Potato Research Sub-station in Plateau State, Nigeria.

The event convened over 50 representatives from relevant organizations including NRCRI Umudike, International Potato Center (CIP), African Agriculture Technology Foundation (AATF), National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), National Potato Value Chain, National Agricultural Seed Service (NASC), Plateau State Agricultural Development Project (PADP), University of Jos, Plateau State University Bokkos, Federal College of Land Resources Technology, National Cereals Research Institute, potato farmers and Michigan State University (MSU) via virtual link.

The event featured a welcome address by the Executive Director of NRCRI, guided tour of the confined field trial site, presentation of project objectives and the previous research on biotech potatoes conducted by CIP.

Thereafter, there were goodwill messages from the Global Biotech Potato Partnership Project Director Dr David Douches and project Deputy Director - Africa, Dr Marc Ghislain who joined via virtual link from Michigan and Kenya, respectively. Other stakeholders, including potato farmers, expressed the need to deploy the late blight resistant potatoes to Nigerian farmers due to frequent and severe outbreaks of disease and scarcity and high cost of fungicides.
INDONESIA
U.S. project personnel visit SEAMEO/BIOTROP
Global Biotech Potato Partnership Deputy Director - Asia and Regulatory Affairs Global Resource Lead, Dr. Karen Hokanson (pictured above third from right) and Disease Resistance Management Global Resource Lead, Dr. Philip Wharton (pictured above, middle) recently visited the offices of SEAMEO/ BIOTROP in Bogor. Hokanson is based at the University of Minnesota and Dr. Wharton at University of Idaho.

The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) is a regional intergovernmental organization established in 1965 among the governments of Southeast Asian countries to promote regional cooperation in education, science and culture. The Regional Centre for Tropical Biology of SEAMEO (BIOTROP) was established based on the decision of the Third SEAMEO Conference in 1968, under the name of Regional Centre for Training, Research and Post Graduate Study in Tropical Biology (BIOTROP).

BIOTROP’s objective is to contribute to the economic development of the Southeast Asian Region by identifying and solving critical biological problems; the solution of which will enhance regional development and help solve these problems through appropriately designed research training programs. In particular, BIOTROP concentrates on research programs, developing the tools and principles of research in its defined program areas, and on training professionals in the Region in their use to stimulate further biological research in member countries; thus producing the maximum multiplier effect from BIOTROP programs. 

The Global Biotech Potato Partnership looks forward to collaborating with SEAMEO/BIOTROP through education and outreach activities designed to educate Indonesians on the science of biotechnology.
In the Field
Project personnel visit partner organizations
Global Biotech Potato Partnership Deputy Director - Asia and Regulatory Affairs Global Resource Lead, Dr. Karen Hokanson and Disease Resistance Management Global Resource Lead, Dr. Philip Wharton (pictured above third and fourth from left in above) both based in the U.S. recently visited KALRO in Nairobi, Kenya.
Dr. Eric Magembe, Product Development and Technical Support - Africa Global Resource Lead visits the campus of MSU in East Lansing, MI. In the picture above, Eric poses at Morrill Hall, home of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Magembe is based at CIP in Kenya.
MSU-based Dr. Dave Douches, Global Biotech Potato Partnership Project Director (pictured far right in above) visits with KALRO and CIP team members in the KALRO greenhouse in Nairobi, Kenya.
While in Kenya, Dr. Douches (pictured third from right in above) also visited with project partner, African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) at their offices in Nairobi.
Featured Potato Recipe -
Aloo Tikki Potato Burger
Patties made from potato and Chickpea seasoned with onion, garlic, cilantro, and curry powder make a tasty meatless burger.

Top your favorite bun or a lighter option like a crisp lettuce leaf, with creamy and fresh yogurt sauce and pickled veggies. This one is a flavor sensation! Try the recipe from Potatoes USA for your next Meatless Monday!
Feed the Future is America's initiative to combat global hunger and poverty. It brings partners together to help some of the world's poorest countries harness the power of agriculture and entrepreneurship to jumpstart their economies and create new opportunities. For more information, visit www.feedthefuture.gov.
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This publication is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of Michigan State University and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.