AIMS ENTITIES
AIMS INITIATIVES
AIMS PROGRAMS

Elucidating the pollinator dependency of selected crops in Rwanda

Elucidating the pollinator dependency of selected crops in Rwanda

1.Host Institution:

  1. Host Institution:
    (1) African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda
    (2) World Agroforestry (ICRAF), Kigali, Rwanda.

2. Supervisors:
(1) Dr Rosita Yocgo, ryocgo@nexteinstein.org

(2) Dr. Athanase Mukuralinda, a.mukuralinda@cgiar.org

3. Project Description:
More than 70% of crops depend to some extent on an insect pollinator, leading to the production of superior quality foods/seeds that are essential to humans (klein et al 2014). Pollinators are gaining increasing recognition among the scientific community and policy makers as providers of essential ecosystem services, and in some cases, as direct food producers e.g. honey bees.

To understand the dependency of crops to pollinators, field observations to document the type and frequency of insect visitations are a necessary first step. There is already of large body of evidence describing this in literature for several crops across the world. However, in Rwanda, such evidences are not scientifically documented, leading to generic inferences that may be biased, given that crop varieties and the climate may introduce salient differences.

4. Expected Outcomes:

This study will focus on major plants that are of economic importance in Rwanda and whose pollinator dependency are relatively unknown. The study will require field visits to document the pollinators and their frequency of interactions with these plants, especially during the flowering period. Basic statistical analysis will be undertaken to gain insights from the data collected. Outputs will support pollinator conservation efforts geared especially towards increased food security and conserving our biodiversity.

Applications for this internship should be submitted via the online application system, stating clearly the title of the internship.

Deadline for applications: February 28th, 2021 at 11:59 PM Central Africa Time (CAT)

Any inquiries about these internships should be sent to:
aims-ms4cr.internship@nexteinstein.org.