Joseph Jojo Baidu-Forson

Title: Regional Director

Duty post location: Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Office, Nairobi, Kenya.

Joseph, or Jojo, as his friends and colleagues call him, is a Ghanaian and joined Bioversity International in April 2006, as the Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa. Before Bioversity, he worked at the United Nations University - Institute for Natural Resources in Africa, and prior to this he held different scientific positions at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Nigerian and Indian offices.

He has published widely and some of his most notable, widely cited publications are based on technology adoption studies, plant trait preferences modelling and farming systems research in West Africa. More recently, Dr. Baidu-Forson has managed the publication of scientific papers in a Special Issue of Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment dedicated to Agrobiodiversity & Africa.

He has previously edited lectures on natural resources in Africa presented by leading scholars. He has also assisted FAO with the preparation of the Global Plan of Action-National Information Sharing Mechanism (GPA-NISM), State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (SOW-PGRFA) and State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture (SOWBFA) - for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Credentials:

Ph. D., Cornell University, USA

M.S., University of Minnesota, USA

B.Sc. in Agriculture, University of Ghana

Languages:

English, French.

A selection of recent publications:

Adebooye, O. C., Ajayi, S. A., Baidu-Forson, J. J. and Opabode, J. T. 2005. Seed constraint to cultivation and productivity of African indigenous leafy vegetables.  African Journal of Biotechnology. Read more

Baidu-Forson, J.J., Hodgkin, T., and M. Jones. 2012. Introduction to special issue on agricultural biodiversity, ecosystems and environment linkages in Africa. In: Baidu-Forson, J.J., Hodgkin T., and Jones, M., (Eds.), Special Issue of Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. Read more

Assogbadjo, A.E., Chadare, F.J., Glele Kakai, R., Fandohan, B. Baidu-Forson, J.J. 2012. Variation in biochemical composition of baobab (Adansonia digitata) pulp, leaves and seeds in relation to soil type and tree provenances”. In: Baidu-Forson, J.J., Hodgkin T., and Jones, M., (Eds.), Special Issue of Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. Read more

Baidu-Forson, J. J. and Lewis-Lettington, R. 2007. Linking biotechnology and agricultural biodiversity resources in holistic strategy in West Africa. West African Journal of Applied Ecology. Read more