On 4 December 2018, a group of 30 African scientists visited the regional office for Eastern and Southern Africa as part of the “Australia Awards Short Course on Increasing Development Impact of Agricultural Research.” The course, organized by the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, spanned almost two months and comprised visits to research sites in Kenya and Tanzania.

Participants enjoyed spending a whole day at WorldVeg. After an in-depth tour, they were submerged in several case studies presented by WorldVeg lecturers in the auditorium: Ralph Roothaert discussed home gardens, Thibault Nordey introduced protective cultivation, Never Zekeya spoke on Tuta absoluta, Omary Mbwambo introduced the Africa Vegetable Breeding Consortium, and Alaik Laizer reviewed progress with vegetable business hubs. The WorldVeg team enjoyed interacting with the visiting scientists, who brought many new insights to the key research areas at the Center.