About The Staff Member

Dr. Egya Ndede Yankey is a well knownn scientist on coconut research in Africa and has expertise in molecular diagnostics of phytoplasma diseases; management of lethal yellowing diseases of coconut; plant-microbe interactions; molecular marker assisted breeding and in vitro cultivation of plants. Ndede graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in 2002 with an honours degree in Agriculture, and obtained his MSc degree in Biotechnology also at KNUST in 2009. He studied for his PhD at the University of Nottingham, UK and investigated the nature of resistance and tolerance of coconut varieties to phytoplasma diseases; the possibility of seed transmission of lethal yellowing among other topics.

Ndede’s professional career began in 2004 with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Oil Palm Research Institute (CSIR-OPRI) as an Assistant Research Scientist and was appointed a Research Scientist in 2009. Ndede has contributed nationally and internationally to finding innovative solutions and technologies to manage the devastating lethal yellowing disease of coconut. He was involved in a Royal Society-Leverhulme (UK) Project (in collaboration with the University of Nottingham and the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA), UK) that developed and piloted an in-field DNA diagnostic method for lethal yellowing based on LAMP assays. The method involve a 2 minute DNA extraction protocol and a real-time detection method that altogether takes no more than 30 minutes. In other work, Ndede has been involved in developing molecular markers that can be used to validate the pedigree of the crosses in the Ghanaian breeding programme.   

Internationally, Ndede has been involved in a number of capacity building and technology transfer programs. From 2014 to 2017, he served as the Ghana project leader and advisor in an International Development Research Centre -Canada (IDRC) funded project when lethal yellowing was found in Cote D’Ivoire. The Project involved three and two other organizations based in Cote D’Ivoire and Canada respectively. Technologies such as in-field diagnosis of lethal yellowing; disease containment strategies and in vitro cultivation were extended to the Ivorian partners.

Ndede has to his credit over 25 scientific publications including peer reviewed research papers; conference papers; a book chapter; manuals, scientific and technical fact sheets and technical reports. He often speaks at International meetings on Phytoplasma diseases of coconut and also serves as a reviewer for a number of scientific journals including European Journal of Plant Pathology, Australia Plant Disease Notes, Journal of Biotechnology, Tropical Plant Pathology among others.

Ndede is currently the country project leader of an ongoing European Union funded project, TROPICSAFE (€4 million) involving 22 organizations from 12 countries. The project aims to provide updated knowledge and solutions to address three economically important bacterial and insect transmitted diseases of perennial crops.  In 2019, Ndede was appointed a Senior Research Fellow of the Leverhulme-Royal Society Africa Award-Postdoctoral Fellowship with a grant of £40, 000. In this programme, morphological and molecular markers will be developed to sustain the breeding programme in Ghana.

Ndede is a senior research scientist and the Officer-In-Charge of the Coconut Programme of CSIR-OPRI. He is also the focal person for the Modernising Agriculture Programme (MAG) at CSIR-OPRI and coordinates the production and supply of high quality coconut and oil palm seedlings and capacity building activities of the Institute in the Programme.