NRF Youth Month 2025: Beakal Tadesse Girma

The NRF supports the growth of the next generation of researchers and scholars to sustain South Africa’s knowledge enterprise. June is Youth Month, and this year the NRF is celebrating the youth who are shaping tomorrow through research today. We thank all participants for sharing their stories with us.

Mr Beakal Tadesse Girma is a PhD student in Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Cape Town. He received funding from the NRF for his PhD studies.

How did your journey start?

My passion for genetics was sparked in junior high school when I first learned about Mendel’s peas. I was fascinated by how traits are controlled, inherited, and improved. This passion has evolved into a lifelong commitment to agricultural research, with a particular focus on breeding climate-resilient crops to support food security in Africa.

As a researcher at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), I worked on improving food crops using conventional breeding. However, challenges such as environmental constraints and limited efficiency of traditional methods highlighted the urgent need to integrate advanced technologies such as molecular biology and biotechnology into our breeding programs. This realisation motivated me to deepen my knowledge and practical skills through academic advancement.

I pursued an MSc in Plant Breeding, where I evaluated salt-tolerant rice genotypes, examining their morphological, physiological, and grain quality traits. Currently, I am completing my PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Cape Town. My research, entitled Linking Genetic Variability to Drought Physiology of Tef (Eragrostis tef), explores drought-tolerant tef genotypes, their physiological and molecular mechanisms, and effective breeding traits. My work combines extensive field trials in Ethiopia with lab-based omics research at UCT, and I am now finalising the molecular analysis phase.

For my postdoctoral research, I intend to validate the drought-tolerance protein biomarkers identified during my PhD across a broader panel of 300 tef genotypes, using field sites in drought-prone Ethiopian regions. The goal is to develop an early-stage screening tool within three weeks of planting that enhances breeding efficiency and precision. Additionally, I aim to integrate drought-tolerant genes from E. nindensis, a desiccation-tolerant relative of tef, using CRISPR-based technologies in collaboration with existing genome editing teams. A complementary PhD project will focus on root traits and their role in drought adaptation.

How has your affiliation with the NRF impacted your studies/career?

I first encountered the NRF in 2020 when I contacted my current PhD supervisor, Prof Jill Farrant, who holds the DSTI-NRF Research Chair (SARChI) in Molecular Physiology of Plant Desiccation Tolerance, to pursue further studies. My initial PhD application was unsuccessful because I missed the institution’s deadline. However, in my second attempt in 2021, my application was successful, and I was awarded the NRF-SARCHI (grantholder-linked) scholarship to pursue my PhD at UCT.

I joined UCT in 2022. When I first arrived in Cape Town, the cold weather was quite a shock, but I quickly found both the city and our lab to be warm and welcoming. As an agricultural researcher, continuous professional development in one’s area of specialisation is essential to remain competitive for grants and to advance in the field. The NRF provided me the opportunity to work with an incredible supervisor who is deeply passionate about improving food security through her groundbreaking work on desiccation-tolerant plants.

Our lab focuses on translating knowledge from desiccation-tolerant plants, plants that can survive extremely dry conditions, into agricultural crops using advanced molecular technologies such as gene editing and CRISPR. Through this work, I’ve had the opportunity to attend both national and international conferences, including events in Europe. So far, I’ve participated in over three international events, with more opportunities arising from the connections I’ve made during these events.

I am currently finalising my PhD and have submitted a funding application to the NRF to continue my research. Building on my PhD research, I aim to harness the power of molecular biology by developing proteomic biomarkers to support traditional crop breeding practices. These biomarkers can significantly enhance the efficiency of breeding programs, which are crucial for delivering improved crop varieties to African farmers. Traditional breeding is often time- and resource-intensive, but by integrating proteomic tools, we can shorten breeding cycles and accelerate the variety development process. This innovation is vital for adapting to rapidly changing environmental conditions and increasing farmers’ resilience to climate change.

What is your research focus/ area of expertise?

I am studying tef, an orphan crop known for its nutritional and health benefits, as well as its adaptability to marginal environments where other cultivated crops struggle to survive, such as under drought conditions. Thus, ultimately, we are working to make tef more drought-tolerant. My work focuses on exploring the genetic variability of tef for drought tolerance and identifying the underlying mechanisms through both morphophysiological and molecular approaches.

In particular, I am using proteomics and metabolomics to uncover the pathways involved in drought tolerance. These methods can help identify potential biomarkers that may be applied in future tef improvement programs.

Unlike conventional genetic markers, which rely solely on DNA-level information, proteomic and metabolomic biomarkers reflect actual physiological responses and offer insight into post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications, making them more directly informative of the plant’s condition. This can enhance the efficiency of breeding by integrating molecular data into practical variety development pipelines.

Furthermore, the insights gained from this research can support the molecular manipulation of desirable traits using advanced genetic tools such as gene editing.

How is your research helping to shape a better future?

My research contributes to both food and nutritional security while also enhancing farmers’ resilience to climate change. Conventional breeding has long played a critical role in developing productive crop varieties and continues to do so. However, it is often time-consuming and resource intensive. My work supports and complements traditional breeding by integrating molecular tools that retain its strengths while accelerating the development process.

This research not only addresses the urgent need for climate-resilient agricultural technologies but also promotes the global recognition of tef, often regarded as a future crop, for its adaptability and nutritional value. By improving tef’s productivity in marginal areas, we can help strengthen smallholder farmers’ resilience, reduce poverty, and support nutritional health, especially in African contexts where agriculture is predominantly small-scale, cereal-based, and limited in access to animal-sourced foods. This work supports a more secure, sustainable, and health-conscious agricultural system.

Being a young researcher often means juggling numerous responsibilities and expectations. How do you stay motivated and/or balanced?

Although I did not come from a farming background, I have firsthand experience with Ethiopia’s agricultural system and have witnessed the challenges farmers face in trying to be productive. From an early age, I was deeply moved by the transformative impact that improved crop varieties can have on farmers’ lives. I joined the agricultural research system shortly after completing my undergraduate degree, and that was my first real experience with farming. I was immediately drawn to it and felt a strong sense of purpose.

This connection inspired me to pursue an MSc in Plant Breeding, where I contributed to the development and release of over six bread wheat varieties that are now playing a key role in Ethiopia’s wheat revolution. I also contributed to the release of improved varieties of other cereal crops, including rice and maize.

Despite these accomplishments, I felt there was still a gap in making plant breeding more efficient and responsive to today’s challenges. This realisation motivated me to pursue further studies, and it continues to drive my passion for research. I believe I am now on the path to fulfilling that vision and making a meaningful contribution to agricultural development.

What has been your proudest achievement to date?

I see each step in my academic and professional journey as an achievement, whether it was being accepted into competitive courses and scholarships such as the NRF or contributing to impactful research. Among my proudest achievements are being appointed as a researcher and plant breeder at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research and contributing to the release of several improved crop varieties, particularly bread wheat, rice, and maize. These varieties have had a direct impact on food security and farmers’ livelihoods in Ethiopia.

Another moment of pride was receiving an excellent grade for my MSc thesis defence, which affirmed the quality of my work and strengthened my confidence as a researcher. These milestones, along with being accepted into prestigious programs and scholarships, represent not just personal success but meaningful contributions to agricultural development in my country.

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