The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has inducted Prof. Maxwell Darko Asante, a Chief Research Scientist, as the new Director of the CSIR-Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI), Ghana’s foremost agricultural research institute.
Prof. Asante, an esteemed Research Scientist with over two decades of experience in agricultural research and development, assumes his new role effective February, 2025.
He succeeds the late Prof. Moses Brandford Mochiah, who served as Director from July 2019 to July 2024.
Prof. Asante’s career spans over two decades, with significant achievements in plant breeding. As the Rice Breeding Lead at CSIR-CRI, he has been instrumental in developing and releasing over 20 climate-resilient rice varieties that have been widely adopted by farmers across Ghana. He has dedicated his career to achieving rice self-sufficiency and enhancing food security in Ghana.
His research has contributed to increasing agricultural productivity and improved the livelihoods of rice farmers in Ghana.
His current research focuses on developing high-yielding, climate-smart rice varieties tolerant to major biotic and abiotic stresses, utilizing conventional, DNA marker-assisted and biotechnology approaches.
He led the breeding modernisation effort at CSIR-CRI and consulted for the CGIAR Excellence in Breeding (EiB) programme (now known as Breeding and Research Services) in 2021, to modernise breeding programs in Ghana and other African countries. He has also consulted for AGRA and GIZ-MOVE.
In his acceptance for the new role as Director, he noted that the appointment comes at a critical time when Ghana’s agricultural sector is grappling with challenges such as climate change, soil degradation and post-harvest losses.
According to him, under his leadership, CSIR-CRI is expected to play a pivotal role in developing innovative solutions to these issues.
He indicated that his expertise positions him well to lead the institute in addressing these challenges in collaboration with the Ghanaian government, the private sector, stakeholders in Ghana as well as international partners.
Before his appointment, Prof. Asante served as the Deputy Director of the CSIR-CRI from January, 2022 to February, 2024 and the Head of the Institute’s Cereals Improvement Programme from 2017 to 2019 and widely recognised for his leadership in rice breeding across Africa.
Prof. Asante’s outstanding contributions have earned him numerous accolades. In 2018, he won the National Best Agricultural Scientist at the 34th National Farmers Day.
Prof. Asante was also selected as the best research scientist at the CSIR-Crops Research Institute in 2017.
He was also awarded as the Most Influential WACCI Alumnus in 2023. Additionally, his rice breeding team won the Best Rice Breeding Programme Award by KAFACI in 2023.
Prof. Asante holds academic affiliations as an Associate Professor in Plant Breeding and Genetics at the CSIR College of Science and Technology (CCST), Kumasi, Ghana.
He is a Guest Lecturer at the Pan African University Life and Earth Sciences Institute (PAULESI), University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria and an Associate Faculty at the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, Legon.
Prof. Asante obtained a BSc. (Agriculture) degree and a Diploma in Education from the University of Cape Coast in 1998. He also holds MSc. (Plant Breeding) from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (2004) and a Ph.D. (Plant Breeding) from the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, Legon (2012).
Recently, he completed MSc. in Strategic Management and Leadership from KNUST and is awaiting graduation in March this year.
He is a graduate of Class III of the African Plant Breeding Academy and the Gender-Responsive Cereal Grain Breeding Course (GREAT).
He mentors women in Agricultural Science under the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) program.
He has authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications comprising refereed journal papers in highly-rated international journals, book chapters and conference papers and has attracted over USD 4.5 million in research and infrastructure support to the CSIR-CRI.
He has served as Principal Investigator for over 10 research projects funded by prominent donors, including USAID, BMGF, AGRA, IFAD and RDA, Korea.
