NC State Hosts Cecilia Limera from the African Agricultural Technology Foundation

Limera tours multiple Phytotron chambers that house a variety of different plants.

WRITTEN BY: Olivia Rogers (Ogrogers@ncsu.edu)

In April 2023 NC State hosted Cecilia Limera, Program Officer and Nutrition Lead in the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF)’s Program Development and Commercialization Department. Limera holds a Ph.D. in agricultural, environmental and food sciences with a specialization in plant biotechnology. Limera has a multidisciplinary academic background as a horticulturist, plant molecular biologist and plant biotechnologist. Her work focuses on finding solutions to agricultural challenges through biotechnology. AATF works to improve farming practices in Sub-Saharan Africa.

While Limera was in Raleigh, NC State staff hosted several tours and meetings with her. Limera visited places such as the Phytotron laboratory and the Lake Wheeler Road Field laboratories. Limera also gave a presentation detailing the work of AATF for NC State faculty, staff and students.

During her visit, Limera learned about the role of agriculture extension in the US and post-harvest loss management and processing. She also learned about nutrition communication and the capacity building of farmers for nutrition in agriculture. NC State hopes to continue this partnership by actively pursuing collaborative research and outreach projects in the future. See the gallery below:

Limera at the Phytotron Laboratory with Deepti Pradhan.

 

Limera meets with Hunter Barrier at NC State’s Clinton Research station. This station mainly focuses on sweet potato research and production.

 

Bridget Lassiter, Superintendent of the Lake
Wheeler Road Field Lab, meets with Limera to give a tour of the labs and visit the Air Quality-Plant Growth & Development Unit.
Limera meets with Massimo Lorizzo in Kannapolis, NC to discuss Genetics, genomics, germplasm improvement and breeding of small fruits.

 

Limera meets with Cheri Granillo in Kannapolis, NC to discuss dissemination of wellness and health research.