News and Highlights from The DRUMBEAT 99:
👉 Kenyan farmers decry a debilitating drought and the decimation of yields as experts moot the widespread introduction of biotechnology.

👉 Ghana's 🇬🇭 scientist explains the country's sustained battle with the Maruca pod borer, which armers' yield, and the introduction of the GM Cowpea that effectively contained the pest.

👉 ISAAA looks back at the webinar in which we gained great insights on the use of radio for conservation, and in which BBC Media Action shared stats that showed that nearly nine in ten listeners have taken steps to protect or restore their environment after listening to radio programs promoting sustainable practices..

👉 A team from ISAAA AfriCenter that was in Yerevan, 🇦🇲, for the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP17), detail some of the experiences and discussions, and the bearing they have for Africa and for young scientists.

The DrumBeat also calls for your registration to a pre-ABBC webinar of tomorrow, Thursday, October 29. Here, we shall take stock of how far we've come as a continent in communicating biosciences: webinar.afriscidialogue.org/webinars/do-fa…

We invite you for a National Dialogue, in which we shall rethink Kenya's Food and Feed Systems in the face of Climate Variability. This will be on December 1 in Nairobi, 🇰🇪: archive.africenter.isaaa.org/wp-content/upl…

We offer details of our expectations of ABBC 2027, which will take place in Dakar, 🇸🇳: archive.africenter.isaaa.org/wp-content/upl…

Here is DRUMBEAT 99: africenter.isaaa.org/drumbeat/issue…

WILL YOU BE A PART of those saving Africa from damaging falsehoods, some of which have made it ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE for new science, aimed towards ensuring food security, to work?
The continent sits to discuss how to present facts in the biosciences so that society can, once and for all, shake off those disturbing shackles of misinformation and disinformation. Are. You. Following? What is your contribution to this noble course ahead of #ABBC2027?

This Thursday, we ask:

✍️ : DO FACTS ALWAYS BUILD TRUST? (Lessons from ABBC 2025 and the Road to ABBC 2027)

🗓 : October 29, 2026

⏰️: 4:00pm- 5:00pm EAT (UTC+3)

📍: webinar.afriscidialogue.org/webinars/do-fa…
To see more about The ABBC symposium, please click here: abbcsymposium.org

An (un)interesting theory emerged many centuries ago that diseases such as cholera and the bubonic plague were spread by noxious odors called "miasma". Miasma emanated from rotting organic matter, the breath of humans and animals, and other suchlike odors.

This theory severely the acceptance of finer scientific findings, such as Germ Theory and water-sanitation innovations, so that when in 1954 cholera was discovered to be waterborne, those latest findings were largely rejected.

We struggle to this day, still, with "alternative facts" that shape beliefs societies cling on and refuse to let go. And if we have the FACTS, is that enough to build TRUST?

Join this team to discuss EXACTLY that: the connection between FACTS and TRUST. The team shall bring to you lessons from #ABBC2025 and the bearing that this has on #ABBC2027, which comes in June, 2027, in Dakar, Senegal 🇸🇳.

✍️ : DO FACTS ALWAYS BUILD TRUST? (Lessons from ABBC 2025 and the Road to ABBC 2027)
🗓 : October 29, 2026
⏰️: 4:00pm- 5:00pm EAT (UTC+3)
📍: webinar.afriscidialogue.org/webinars/do-fa…

To see more about The ABBC symposium, please click here: abbcsymposium.org

To get updates on your WhatsApp for upcoming events, opportunities and industry news, follow our WhatsApp channel: whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb…

As Kenya commemorates Mashujaa Day today, honouring its heroes and heroines, alive and fallen, we take this opportunity to remind you, our partner, collaborator, and friend, that you are a shujaa to us at ISAAA AfriCenter, and are a shujaa for all of Africa.

As we remain e march towards food security, we remain alive to the fact that it needs all of us if the efforts are to bear fruit.

Happy Mashujaa Day, friends!

➡Today, on World Food Day, we take time to appreciate millions of people from underprivileged communities who labour hard to ensure they are food secure, and to raise children in environments pummeled by challenges.

➡Also this being the International Year of The Woman Farmer, cross our continent who, tasked with primary care giving, work hard on barely enough land to ensure their families are well fed.

➡The official theme of the day: “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow", requiring our look into use of data, technology, and artificial intelligence to transform agrifood systems, combat global hunger, and make nutritious food affordable and sustainable, marries beautifully with a call we have had sustained here at ISAAA AfriCenter for ages: use of agricultural biotechnology to feed the world.

➡This day calls for a relook of policies, communication streams, and collaboration avenues among different players to ensure biotech crops, for example, which harbour beneficial characteristics such as drought tolerance, quick yielding and pest resistance, can be adopted by farmers across the continent without hassle.

➡We particularly give our flowers to women who are in pursuit of food security through use of tech an innovation in the continent, and for whom we have formed a community in the African Women for Biosciences (AWfB) (africenter.isaaa.org/awfb).

➡We equally appreciate the men who have battled hard to ensure women have a voice, once greatly suppressed by society. 🙏🏽

➡Next year, in June, we shall assemble in Dakar, Senegal 🇸🇳 for the #ABBC2027 (abbcsymposium.org) to agree on, inter alia, how researchers, having developed quite useful technologies, can build trust among societies for easier adoption.

Our aim? To harness the tech we are building and effortlessly feed Africa.

Happy International World Food Day!!!!
@corteva @Cirad @ILRI @kalromkulima @COMESA_HQ @au_ibar @BiosafetyKenya @IowaStateU University @CropLifeKenya @CropLifeIntl @Bayer @2blades @PREZODE @ICGEBCapeTown

In 255 days only, Africa will be having one of the most important, candid conversations about its science, scientific innovations and adoption into society. This will be a follow-up to similar conversations we have had before, and which have yielded impressive results O). The Africa Biennial Biosciences Communication (ABBC) symposium returns, this time in Western Africa, as the 7th edition, following in this chronology:
➡️The ABBC 2015, the first ever edition, was held in Nairobi, 🇰🇪, and aimed to assess the impact of agribiotech and biosafety communication.

➡️ABBC 2017 was in Entebbe, 🇺🇬, and focused on strengthening communication for improved biosafety management.

➡️ABBC 2019 was in Pretoria, 🇿🇦, under the theme: "Getting it Right: Communicating Genome Editing".

➡️ABBC 2021, the hybrid version during COVID-19, discussed accelerating of Africa's Biotech tipping point: taking stock and celebrating the gains.

➡️ABBC 2023 returned to Nairobi, 🇰🇪, under the theme: Evolution of Genetic Improvement Tools in Agriculture: Is Communication Matching Up?

➡️ABBC 2025 was in Lusaka, 🇿🇲, and discussed The War on Science: How can we overcome the burden of misinformation and disinformation?

➡️Now, in 2027, we are in DAKAR, 🇸🇳, to discuss From Evidence to Trust: Strengthening Communication Ecosystems for Bioscience Innovation in Africa.

See here the details: abbcsymposium.org/about

The drought that has swept across East Africa has left maize farmers in Trans Nzoia, western Kenya, struggling to feed their families and to make any profits of note out of a rather lean season.

Listen to Everlyn Khasoha, a young farmer, tell her story, which resonates with on.

“I only harvested half a bag from my small farm here. Maize farming has been my sole livelihood. I do not have money to purchase food. I fear our children will go hungry,” she laments.

A pertinent question many farmers keep asking is: what different outcomes could be experienced if they were able to farm maize that is resilient to such a drought, and that matures faster and yields more?

Experts are calling for the adoption of climate-resilient biotech maize as a sustainable option for addressing the country’s food security challenges in the face of climate change. Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), working with other partners, has developed Bt maize, a biotech maize variety resistant to stem borer and fall armyworm – two of the most destructive insect pests affecting maize production.

See here: africenter.isaaa.org/news/inside-th…

For the past 20 years, John Kimani has been running a thriving dairy 🐄 enterprise in Kiminini, Trans Nzoia, supplying milk to major hotels in Kitale Town. Income from milk sales has enabled him to educate his children, acquire assets and steadily expand his enterprise.
BUT e same. Harsh climatic conditions have reduced maize 🌽production, constraining the availability of key ingredients used in animal feed and increasing feeding costs for livestock farmers.
“I now milk between 400 and 600 litres per day, down from more than 700 litres a day a year ago. Milk production keeps declining because raw materials for feed are becoming scarce, while the cost of those that are available continues to rise,” he said.

🤔WHERE did the rain start beating us, and WHAT looks like the panacea? Read Walter Langat's account of the situation in Western Kenya here: africenter.isaaa.org/news/inside-th…
...and more on biotech and biosafety situation in Kenya and Africa here: africenter.isaaa.org/drumbeat/issue…

🥁🥁DRUMBEAT 98, our September 2026 issue, is themed around a well-established, trusted maxim of old: In Unity, More is Possible.

➡️Different people from different parts of Africa, and the world, have sayings to express this universal truth. DRUMBEAT 98 seeks to elucidate the countries will accrue from the harmonization of biotech and biosafety rules and regulations.

➡️It is a debate backed by facts, and not mere emotion. You see, Africa, faced with sporadic cases of drought, malnutrition, civil strife, disease outbreaks, rapid urbanization, and even overzealous land fragmentation, needs to promptly pick up all available armaments and go to war against whatever demoralise its socioeconomic wellbeing, and especially food insecurity.

➡️Agricultural biotechnology innovations have, for example, been tested for over 3 decades, and have proven important for food security. In drought resilient, pest resistant crops, we have something to rely on when the going gets tough, and especially in the face of climate change (and rapidly growing populations).

🤔Do different countries' laws, even within COMESA, prohibit seamless trade of these materials? Yes. Can there be lobbied for a streamlining of policies to allow COMESA benefit off biotech as a bloc, and will this be of value to Africa? See the Story of The Month and Video of The Month.

🍀We explore the ingenuity of two young women in tech who are solving food and health challenges in Africa, and we enter farms in Western Kenya 🇰🇪 to talk to farmers whose crop was devastated by a fierce drought in the year. What could have been done differently❓️

🎊We also congratulate Prof Vasey Mwaja who was recently appointed to chair the board of National Commission for Science and Technology (NACOSTI).

📍...and remind you that next year, The #ABBC2027 heads to Dakar, Senegal 🇨🇲, as Africa seeks to find out how best to establish trust between the scientific community and society for optimal absorption of key innovations. (abbcsymposium.org/about)

Here, the DRUMBEAT 98: africenter.isaaa.org/drumbeat/issue…

How to end your September in style, you're asking yourself?

Here's how.

Tomorrow, BBC Media Action, in collaboration with the Africa Science Dialogue, Reversing Environmental Degradation in Africa and Asia (REDAA), UKAid Funded Project, IIED Europe and WWF meet to explore THE POWER OF RADIO IN PROMOTING ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE AND ACTION IN EAST AFRICA.

Pretty distinguished speakers, from media and industry, line up to have a deep dive into the intricacies of one of the most popular media platforms, and how it shapes communities interaction with their environment.

JOIN US!

⏰️1100hrs EAT
🗓 September 30, 2026
📍
webinar.afriscidialogue.org/webinars/the-p…

You listen to radio 📻, yeah? Beyond the music, the news, the ordinary, anything really, really educational- the discussions between experts on something like promotion of environmental knowledge in East Africa.

Join us for a webinar on THE POWER OF RADIO IN PROMOTING AMD ACTION IN EAST AFRICA.

🗓: September 30, 2026
⏰️: 1100hrs-1230hrs (UTC+3)

WWF Tanzania, WWF-Kenya and BBC Media Action meet for an engaging webinar on and share findings from a cross-border study on how radio supports environmental knowledge and action in Kenya and Tanzania.

CLICK the link below to register:

webinar.afriscidialogue.org/webinars/the-p…

See you there!!

🌍 Dakar, Senegal 🇸🇳, 2027.

📗The Africa Biennial Biosciences Communication (ABBC) Symposium

📋From Evidence to Trust: Strengthening Communication Ecosystems for Bioscience Innovation in Africa

🗓: June 22-24, 2027

Link for registration: abbcsymposium.org

Traditionally, in many African societies, women sat back to observe. Talents suppressed, ambitions kept in check, targets short or missing altogether.

But then, a lot has changed over time. Women have taken over leadership roles and ran with them. They no longer sit back and de away and not make an impact.

In the African Women for Biosciences (@AWfBKenya) community, top scientists, researchers, innovators, and other many women interested in science can network, amplify their voices, and drive progress together for the continent.

With a membership of over 100 in the more than a decade of impact, the AWfB has brought together starry-eyed women who are keen on making an impact in Africa.

See registration guidelines, impact stories, podcasts, and the values of the AWfB here: lnkd.in/dEBHBTBm

#MyScienceStory
#AfricaScienceDialogue

Nashulai means A Place of Balance and Harmony, says Nelson Ole Reiyia, the CEO and Co-founder of Nashulai Maasai Conservancy.
Here, humans, livestock, wildlife and nature coexist harmoniously. How did this idea begin? It is quite interesting.
Nelson says that one day, ... youtu.be/DA751n1CvJ8?si….

The @aarinena will be, on the 29th of September, holding a webinar titled "Women in Value Chains and Agri-Food Systems Transformation".

👉 This webinar, organized as part of events to celebrate the International Year of Women Farmers 2026, will bring together distinguished om different regions to highlight the important role of women in agricultural value chains and agri-food systems transformation, while sharing experiences and perspectives from across regions.

👉 It aligns perfectly with the African Women for Bioeciences (@AWfBKenya), (africenter.isaaa.org/awfb), a network of women with interest and passion for Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I), women professionals, exploring the role of Biosciences in building a vibrant Bioeconomy in the continent.

👉 The network aims to play a significant role in empowering the African woman as a voice to impact policy and advocate for investments in biosciences for a healthy and prosperous society. Membership comprises the academia, researchers, farmer associations, private sector service providers, the media and professional groups that support gender equity.

✍️ Register for the webinar here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regist…

...aaand, check out the AWfB here: africenter.isaaa.org/awfb

When Nelson Ole Reiyia, CEO and Co-Founder of Nashulai Maasai Conservancy speaks, you listen. You listen because he has achieved one of the hardest things anyone would, transforming a dream of a small world in which humans, animals and the environment blend in seamlessly, avoid hough utopia was truly within reach, into REALITY.

He has mastered it. He knows what needs to be done. He understands the pitfalls. He has seen how this nexus can be forged, a microcosm of the world as we think it was before conflict began.

Tune in this Thursday to listen to the inimitable, charismatic Nelson as he explains how Nashulai Maasai Conservancy brings these elements of nature together and inspires peaceful co-existence. He speaks to Ednah Wanjiru Macharia in this podcast episode.

TOPIC: Harmony with nature: Nashulai Conservancy's Mastery of The One Health Approach
📅 : September 17, 2026
⏰️ : 1930hrs (UTC+)
📍: youtube.com/@AfriCenter

You truly, truly cannot miss this one!!

Join the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (@isaaa_org), Inc. and @CropLifeAsia for a Global Launch Webinar on the Global Socio-Economic and Environmental Impacts of Biotech/GM Crops on 📅 September 17, 2026, from ⏰️ 7:00 to 8:30 PM (SGT) ming on social media platforms. Registration is now open to all interested participants.

With more than 35 years of training and expertise in food and agricultural economics, agricultural economist Graham Brookes from PG Economics Ltd. will unveil the findings of the 1996-2024 assessment, offering insights into the impacts of nearly three decades of biotech/GM crop adoption. The assessment builds on the research previously presented in ISAAA Brief 57, which examined the contributions of biotech crops to food security, sustainability, and climate change solutions from 1996-2020.

Register here: bit.ly/GlobalGMCrops2…

Spotlighting, for our #WomanCrushWednesday, the inimitable, evergreen Dr Margaret Karembu, the Director of ISAAA AfriCenter, Chair of the Africa Science Dialogue (AfriSD), and Chair of African Women for Biosciences (AWfB).

Dr Karembu, whose career has spanned academia, research nt years advocating for the empowerment of the youth, and of women, especially in STEM.

Her rallying call is pegged on the benefits societies accrue out of supporting their women, especially, and the unmistakable role every woman out there plays for family, community, country.

She does not only insist this in meetings; she follows it up with practical work. Dr Karembu, for example, steers the AWfB, a platform where African women in science can connect, and get empowered as a voice to impact policy and advocate for investments in biosciences for a healthy and prosperous society. (africenter.isaaa.org/awfb).

One of her key asks? To have men also intentionally support women in this noble quest, giving the push for empowerment proper impetus!

#MyScienceStory
#AWfB
#WomanCrushWednesday

Rwanda's Clémence Uwamutarambirwa, a speaker in the webinar, detailed the workings of her Smart Potato Greenhouse Technology which combines sensors, cloud-based analytics and a mobile application to allow farmers and greenhouse managers to monitor growing conditions remotely.
reenhouse beds continuously track temperature, humidity and soil moisture. The information is then transmitted to a cloud platform for analysis, while farmers receive updates and alerts on their mobile phones and can remotely manage irrigation.

For a continent whose food security is often jeopardized by factors such as climate change, conflict and shrinking farmland due to fragmentation, and whose population increases rapidly, precision farming is one of the strongest companions for the future. It enables precise, optimal use of available resources.

We thank Uwamutarambirwa for her amazing insights and congratulate her for her efforts in ensuring that farmers can optimally use resources available by leveraging tech.

In case you missed the webinar, here is a link you can watch the recording on: afriscidialogue.org/webinars/

#AWfB
#MyScienceStory
#MotivationalMonday

The webinar we had last Thursday, September 3, titled From Ideas to Impact: How African Women are using AI to Transform Health and Agriculture, brought to us two brilliant African scientists who have chosen to dream and who, in this age of disruptive tech, especially AI, have oblems in science and agriculture within their communities.

Dr Rose Nakasi, a lecturer of Makerere University, Uganda, made a strong case for an ocular system they introduced where researchers are combining microscopes, smartphones and AI to automate diagnosis of diseases including malaria, tuberculosis and cervical cancer. The system uses a 3D-printable adapter to connect a smartphone to a microscope, allowing images of patient samples to be captured and analyzed by AI models trained to detect disease-causing pathogens.

The goal? RAPID, ACCESSIBLE and ACCURATE diagnostics for better healthcare in Africa. Slowly, we are inching our way closer to that on this evidence.

We thank Dr Nakasi for her impeccable insights in the webinar and congratulate her and the team from Makerere on this special application of AI for the achievement of better healthcare.
In case you missed the webinar, here is a link you can watch the recording on: afriscidialogue.org/webinars/
#AWfB
#MyScienceStory
#MotivationalMonday