Widening participation would be key in enhancing bioinformatics and genomics research in Africa

Karikari, Thomas K.; Quansah, Emmanuel; Mohamed, Wael M.Y.

Third, training more African agricultural scientists in modern BGS techniques could play a key role in improving food security, leading to sustainable economic growth (Machuka, 2004) . For example, rural development activities such as eco-tourism can benefit from increased understanding of genetics and genomics; agricultural genomics can be used to integrate RIK and local community practices into biodiversity conservation (Worku et al., 2005) . Moreover, the efficient application of techniques and tools in plant genomics, systems biology and animal agricultural genomics would be beneficial in increasing agricultural yield and food security and reducing post-harvest losses (Machuka, 2004) . Therefore, the triangulation of bioinformatics, genomics and RIK would serve to harness vital community-based knowledge to promote agriculture and food security (Machuka, 2004; Worku et al., 2005) . Presently, the focus of BGS capacity-building efforts in Africa seems to have been tilted towards biomedical and health research compared to agriculture and industrial biotechnology Karikari, 2015a) . However, the potential benefits of BGS are not limited to biomedical and health research. More research and training support programmes in BGS dedicated to agriculture, industrial biotechnology and related areas (similar to the H3Africa scheme for health research) are therefore needed.