On 17 June 2019, President Juichi Yamagiwa received a visit from a delegation headed by faculty from the University of Ghana. The group included two researchers from the University of Ghana — Associate Professor Boniface Kayang and Dr Christopher Adenyo — along with Dr Rob Ogden from the University of Edinburgh and Associate Professor Tsuyoshi Koide from the National Institute of Genetics (NIG). The visitors were invited by Professor Miho Murayama of the KyotoU Wildlife Research Center (WRC) to meet with the president and report on their project with WRC.
The undertaking, led by WRC, aims to domesticate "grasscutters", a species of wild rodent native to Ghana and a popular source of meat among the locals. The country is currently facing a serious food shortage resulting from rapid population growth, and severe ecosystem deterioration caused by overhunting. The project seeks to address both of these issues, and involves selecting docile individuals among the wild grasscutter population using gene analysis techniques, and working with local farmers to breed the animals for meat.
The effort was originally a collaboration between WRC and the University of Ghana, but has recently been expanded with members joining from the University of Edinburgh and NIG. The breeding and meat-production experiments are now being conducted on a larger scale than before.
During the meeting at KyotoU, President Yamagiwa praised the initiative, applying cutting-edge science to the solution of biological resource issues, as a prime example of the University's historical commitment to harmonious fusion between nature and culture, an ideal articulated and espoused by the Kyoto School ( Kyoto Gakuha ) philosophers.
KyotoU and the University of Ghana concluded an inter-university academic exchange agreement in 2017, forming a partnership that is anticipated to continue growing in the coming years.
University of Ghana Associate Professor Kayang explaining the joint research project
Meeting attendees
