The African Plant Breeding Academy (AfPBA; https://pba.ucdavis.edu/pba-africa) is the educational arm of the AOCC.  The Academy is coordinated by AOCC member, University of California Davis, and delivered in partnership with ICRAF and others.

Two professional development courses are offered to Crop Improvement scientists working in national programs in Africa to facilitate the use of genomic resources, such as DNA sequence information, in delivering high-yield, climate-resilient crop varieties to boost farmer productivity and benefit African people:

• The AfPBA Breeders Course empowers plant breeders in the use of genomics resources to expedite the development and release of improved crop varieties with the traits farmers want and consumers need. https://pba.ucdavis.edu/afpba-course-plant-breeders
• The AfPBA CRISPR Course enables molecular biologists in the how-to of gene editing to facilitate creation of sources of critical traits not easily accessible through conventional breeding. https://pba.ucdavis.edu/afpba-crispr-course

For more detail on goals, objectives, design, instructors, and staff, and accomplishments to date, as well as eligibility and timing for future course offerings, see the links to each course provided above.