Mary Abukutsa-Onyango, a renowned researcher in the area of African indigenous vegetables and a professor of horticulture in the Department of Horticulture and Food Security at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), has been appointed to serve as the Editor-in-Chief of the Editorial Board of the African Scientific, Research and Innovation Council (ASRIC)’s Journal of Agricultural Sciences.
The signed appointment letter addressed to Prof. Mary Abukutsa by the African Union’s Scientific Technical Research Commission and African Research and Innovation Council Executive Director, Dr. Engr. Ahmed Hamdy, dated April 16, 2025, reads: “Your selection from the collection of distinguished scientists from across the continent and the Diaspora was encouraged by your commitment as an eminent scholar who has made significant impact and pushed the boundaries in the field.”
The Executive Director further states, “The Editor in Chief role would be a unique contribution to boost African research development and to enhance quality research produced by Africa.
Acknowledging her appointment, Prof. Mary Abukutsa, said “It is indeed an honor, privilege and a pleasant surprise to be appointed as Editor in Chief of the ASRIC Journal of Agricultural Sciences. I will put my best foot forward to ensure quality and relevant papers are published. I am indeed grateful for this appointment.”
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Prof. Abukutsa further said that she will use her skills in scientific writing and publishing to ensure scientific research findings are disseminated and accessed to address pressing challenges facing the world adding that it is an opportunity to reposition the work of researchers from Africa to a global scale and contribute to the Africa we want.
The ASRIC Congress established the ASRIC Journal of Agricultural Sciences which was launched in 2019 in response to the continental problem of inadequate qualitative and quantitative research work within open access framework.
The goal of the journal is to be the Africa highest quality journal in the field, thereby attracting African Scientific excellence from the continent and the Diaspora.
The ASRIC Journal of Agricultural Sciences is an Open Access Journal and is free for authors to publish. According to Dr. Engr. Ahmed Hamdy, the journal reviewers are outstanding scholars with high visibility, competences and recognition.
Prof. Abukutsa commits to make ASRIC Journal of Agricultural Sciences the best African open access journal that meets international standards to attract scientific papers across the globe thus affirming the African scientific excellence resident within the continent and in the diaspora.
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“I intend to make the journal the most authoritative and high impact on the continent in order to compete with other top scientific journals in the world in the area of agricultural sciences,” Prof. Abukutsa stated.
African Scientific, Research and Innovation Council (ASRIC) was established by the African Union Executive Council and launched in 2018 as a continental platform with the mandate to mobilize African research excellence, innovation for dialogue and is the voice of scientific community in building and sustaining continental research policy nexus with the aim of addressing Africa’s socio economic development challenges.
Currently, Prof. Abukutsa is the Principal Investigator for the Government of Kenya funded unique NRF-UPSCALE-AIVs consortium of private and public sector partners supported through the National Research Fund (NRF) to Upscale African indigenous vegetables climate smart technologies for food and nutrition security in Kenya, with a focus on Kiambu and Kakamega counties.
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She is also the Local coordinator of the EU funded intra-Africa academic exchange project for neglected and under-utilized crops known as ORPHAN Project, capacity building for PhD and masters’ students in Plant breeding and Food Science and Nutrition in 5 African countries.
The don is a recipient of several awards which include; the first ever National Outstanding Research Award (NORA) from the National Research Fund in 2024, national and global accolades for her pioneering and impactful research on African indigenous vegetables. She has also served the continent as a Governing Council member of the African Academy of Sciences for 5 years (2020 to 2025) among other key responsibilities.
By Patrick Amunavi
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