Ireti Balogun

Background

About Ireti Balogun

I am an applied plant and animal breeding consultant, supporting breeding program design and implementation. My work on breeding program development includes quantifying plant and animal traits in economic terms and prioritizing traits to improve. I am proud of my work applying new and advanced tools to assess cassava trait improvement preferences of farmers. In this project, I collaborated with multidisciplinary teams of breeders, geneticists, food scientists, nutritionists, and social scientists, working across multiple geographic regions. I am passionate about the future of food production and want to make an impact on ensuring sustainable agriculture and food security. Some of the projects I have enjoyed working on are those seeking to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in developing countries, who are responsible for a large proportion of global food production. Some of the clients I have enjoyed working with include the CGIAR, NextGen cassava, Centre for tropical livestock genetics and health (CTLGH), Royal Jersey agricultural and horticultural society (RJAHS), Bayer crop science, WorldFish, and World Coffee Research. Outside of work, I enjoy traveling, reading, dancing, and spending time with my family. One of the scariest things I have ever done was bunjy jumping from 400 meters above Queenstown, New Zealand. Lately, I have been spending my evenings writing a novel inspired by my childhood in Nigeria.