Dr Simon Gichuki, the Biotechnology Coordinator of the Kenya Agricultural Institute (KARI) will enlighten us on the subject through a presentation titled "Facing the Challenges of Development and Commercialization of Biotech Products"

Dr Gichuki is a PhD holder in Genetics and Plant molecular breeding, from the University of Agricultural sciences, Vienna (Austria) and a MSc. in Agronomy from Oklahoma State University (USA).

As the Head of KARI Biotechnology Centre based in Nairobi, he has been involved in coordination of Biotechnology research and development at the Institute, with a particular focus on cassava and maize on various projects such as the BioCassava Plus (BC+), the Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa (VIRCA) and the African Biofortified Cassava Projects (ABS). He is the regulatory team leader for Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) and the Nitrogen-use Efficient Maize (IMAS) projects and backstops other projects involving sorghum, cassava and sweet potato in KARI.