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Regional Representative for West Africa at AATF and Project Manager of the Pod Borer-Resistant (PBR) Cowpea initiative, Dr. Jean Baptiste Tignegre, has been named one of the recipients of the 2025 Top Agri-Food Pioneer (TAP) award by the World Food Prize Foundation.
The TAP award, introduced as part of the Foundation’s 39th anniversary, recognizes 39 outstanding individuals from 27 countries who are driving agricultural innovation and transforming global food systems. Dr. Tignegre and fellow honorees will be celebrated at the prestigious Borlaug Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa, in October 2025.
A globally respected plant breeder with over 30 years of experience in legume and vegetable improvement, Dr. Tignegre has made significant contributions to agricultural development across West Africa. He previously served as Principal Investigator for the Burkina Faso component of the PBR Cowpea Project before assuming full leadership of the initiative at AATF in 2023.
Under his guidance, the PBR Cowpea project has delivered high-yielding, pest-resistant cowpea varieties that reduce losses and improve livelihoods for farmers in Nigeria, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. First released in Nigeria in 2019, the PBR Cowpea became the country’s first genetically modified food crop.
In 2024, Dr. Tignegre played a central role in the introduction of PBR Cowpea to Ghana, marking it the nation’s first-ever GM crop release, and helped steer Burkina Faso through the regulatory process for environmental approval.
Dr. Tignegre’s recognition as a TAP awardee reflects his enduring commitment to innovation, food security, and farmer empowerment. His career achievements include:
Leading the release of four high-yielding cowpea varieties in Burkina Faso (2012), as well as improved onion, tomato, shallot, okra, and African eggplant varieties in Mali and Ghana (2022–2024).
Pioneering Bt-cowpea research in Burkina Faso, including the establishment of Confined Field Trial (CFT) infrastructure and advocacy initiatives targeting civil society and youth, and using advanced breeding methods for cowpea that include special DNA markers (SNPs) to select important traits like resistance to Striga, protection against pests, and higher yields.
While congratulating him, Dr. Emmanuel Okogbenin, Director of Product Development and Commercialization at AATF, said: “This honor is the culmination of your many years of dedicated service to farmers and the advancement of agriculture in Burkina Faso and across Africa.”
Dr. Okogbenin added that since Dr. Tignegre joined AATF, he has achieved significant milestones on the PBR Cowpea project, notably the release of the product in Ghana and the development of the next generation of products, including PBR CowpeaXtra—a second-generation variety that offers greater durability and enhanced resistance to the pod borer Maruca.
Dr. Tignegre developed low-cost off-soil vegetable gardening methods and enhancing seed systems and breeding programs across West, Central, and Southern Africa and secured and managed competitive grants from USAID, AGRA, and the Generation Challenge Program (funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).
Before joining AATF, Dr. Tignegre held several leadership roles including Cowpea and Vegetable Breeder at INERA and World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) from 1990 to 2019, Regional Representative of WorldVeg WCA-Dry Regions (2020–2022), and Head of the Genetics and Plant Biotechnology Laboratory at INERA (2007–2013). He has also contributed to USAID/IITA vegetable initiatives in Mali and Ghana and provided expert support to regional and national research systems, including CORAF/WECARD and the University of Mozambique.
His collaborative research has spanned institutions across Africa, Europe, and the United States, including INRAN, ISRA, IITA, ICRISAT, the Kirkhouse Trust, OXFAM, CRS/Cathwel, KAFACI, WACCI-University of Legon-Ghana, and the Universities of California-Riverside and Virginia.
In addition to mentoring PhD and MSc students from Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Niger, and Mali, Dr. Tignegre has authored and co-authored 50 scientific publications and one book, leaving a strong legacy of scientific excellence and capacity building in African agriculture.
