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Background

Sanatu Mustapha Alidu (PhD) is a Senior lecturer and Plant Breeder at the Crop Science Department of the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Sciences, º£½ÇÂÒÂ×ÉçÇø, Nyankpala, Tamale. (https://uds.edu.gh/staff/malidu-81675). Born and bred in Northern Ghana, she obtained her primary education, secondary education, and the first face of her tertiary education in Tamale, Northern Ghana. She obtained a PhD in Plant Breeding at the West African Center for Crop Improvement, University of Ghana Legon- Accra, an MSc in plant Breeding from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, a BSc degree in Agricultural Technology Agronomy option and an HND in Agricultural Engineering, with a major in soil and water option. Until she became a faculty member at º£½ÇÂÒÂ×ÉçÇøin 2011, she taught for 11 years at the Department of Agricultural Engineering, Tamale Polytechnic. Her current main career assignment in the University is teaching and carrying out research in the area of Plant Breeding. Her research focus is on developing cowpea varieties that will tolerate drought to increase production and help improve food security and livelihood of people, especially females in Northern Ghana where the bulk of the crop is produced. Her other professional roles and responsibilities includes; º£½ÇÂÒÂ×ÉçÇøGoverning Council Member, Convocation Representative for Non Professorial Senior Members, Faculty Third Trimester Field Practical Programme Coordinator; for Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Sciences, Departmental Third Trimester Field Practical Programme Coordinator, Supervision of Post graduate and Undergraduate Student’s Thesis and Dissertations. As a female Senior lecturer, she has provided a lot of mentorship programmes for organizations such as Camfed Ghana, SWIDA Ghana, NORSAAC, º£½ÇÂÒÂ×ÉçÇøfemale mentoring programmes and many second cycle institutions in Northern Ghana. She has served as a mentor for the Ministry of Communication and Digitization’s program for Girls in ICT Training program for females in Northern Ghana. She has also held several TV and Radio Programme to inspire the girl-child and many parents in the north on the importance of female education both in English and local languages. In the area of grants and collaborative works, Dr Alidu, has worn grants from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa for her Masters and PhD studies in Plant Breeding. Her recent collaborations have been with Wageningen Center for Innovation and Development (WCDI) in the Netherlands with a Team from Naktuinbouw to develop a proposed Toolbox for Plant Variety Protection in Ghana with goal of developing an effective plant breeders’ right system that will stimulates seed sector development and attract majority of farmers to patronize the formal seed system within the next decade. The action steps involve the establishment of a PVP office and national authority, acceding to the UPOV convention, creating awareness and strengthening human and organizational capacities for smooth implementation of the act and clearly defining farmer’s rights vis a vis breeder right. Dr Sanatu is also collaborating with Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences for a 5-year project on cowpea maize relay/intercropping systems with the broader aim of Technology development towards supporting farmers' decision-making to boost sustainable upland farming system in Africa.

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