The MSc degree will be 24-30 months and will integrate the research and internships with the taught courses.  The students will be trained hands-on in the plant breeding program at the UKZN and the public and private partner institutions in Southern African Development Community (SADC). This will provide students with the practical knowledge of applying modern technologies, such as production of doubled haploids to reduce the breeding cycles, managing spatial and temporal variation in trial fields, and advanced trial designs. Above all the students will learn hands-on how to use the Integrated Breeding Patform (IBP) to manage plant breeding information systems. The IBP has been developed by the Generation Challenge Programme (GCP) and will be made available to the UKZN for use in training MSc students. 

The project outcome will be 30 industry-ready, modern plant breeders from at least 6 Southern African countries. The new breeders will impact positively on delivering the technology needs of the smallholder farming sector, which dominates agricultural production in Africa.