Tinovonga Gonhi
Research Fellow and Plant Breeder · Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology
Marondera, Zimbabwe
About
Tinovonga Gonhi is a research fellow and plant breeder at Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in Zimbabwe, where he leads the smart grains breeding and seed systems programme covering sorghum and millets. A crop scientist working on traditional crops and indigenous vegetables, he focuses on developing market-led varieties that deliver real genetic gains at farm level. He joins the World Millet Federation to advance public awareness of millets and to mobilise partnerships that strengthen the millet value chain.
Millets track record
He leads plant breeding and seed systems research at the African Indigenous Vegetables Institute and teaches plant breeding, genetic resources management, molecular biology and seed systems at undergraduate and postgraduate level. He was selected as a Professional Research Fellow on opportunity crops under CIMMYT's Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils programme and upgraded his molecular breeding skills at BecA-ILRI in Nairobi, Kenya. He has developed a high-yielding, early-maturing finger millet line that passed DUS evaluation and is awaiting variety release, trained over 150 outgrower farmers in certified finger millet seed production, and developed a finger millet and amaranth flour blend for porridge.