Kassahun Tesfaye
Professor of Genetics · Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
About
Professor Kassahun Tesfaye works with global stakeholders on millet research, conservation, breeding, production, nutrition and utilisation. He is particularly interested in strengthening international collaboration to promote millets as climate-resilient, nutritious and healthy food crops and to advance their contribution to sustainable food systems in the face of climate change. He contributes expertise in millet genetic resources, genetics, breeding, biotechnology and climate resilience, and communicates the nutritional, health and environmental benefits of millets to farmers, students, policymakers and the public. He also shares research findings from Ethiopia and Africa and supports capacity building and training.
Millets track record
He has studied the genetic diversity and population structure of finger millet and tef genetic resources in Ethiopia and has released a finger millet cultivar for commercial production. He has trained plant breeders, geneticists and biotechnology researchers in tef and finger millet genetics, breeding and biotechnology. His research includes the evaluation of finger millet resistance to major pathogens and the characterisation of associated pathogens, and he is actively involved in finger millet improvement programmes at the African level. He has published several scientific articles on finger millet and tef genetics, genetic resources, breeding and improvement.