Biography
Tinashe Chiurugwi’s specialities are crop improvement and technology transfer, having worked on a range of horticultural and arable crops in Zimbabwe and the UK at Pioneer Hi-Bred, Seed Co Ltd, University of Reading, Rothamsted Research and CGIAR (the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) Consortium.
As a research associate within the NIAB International Initiative, Chiurugwi develops proposals and fundraising strategies and delivers projects to apply NIAB skills and expertise to agricultural issues in developing countries, including:
- A year-long scoping study to determine the feasibility of applying the NIAB Innovation Farm concept (a knowledge exchange/technology transfer hub) in Ghana, Uganda, and Kenya. He is now spearheading fundraising efforts to launch NIAB Innovation Farm in Ghana and Uganda.
- A four-month research project in collaboration with Naliendele Agricultural Research Institute, Tanzania, to identify the facilities, practices and mechanisms that would improve the translation of agricultural research into farming practice in Nachingwea District, Southern Tanzania.
- Assisting in the management and leadership of a research project that has built a UK-Kenya partnership to support the uptake of new crop varieties by Kenyan smallholder farmers. As part of this, he coordinates participation by NIAB staff to help researchers at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation to develop knowledge exchange models suitable for smallholder farmers, and in the production and distribution of communication materials.