I have no iota of doubtthat the training at WACCI willprepare me adequately to serve the needs of Niger s groundnu tproducers. Born in Diffa in the Eastern region of Niger as the fourth of eightchildren Coulibaly is the only one who has had the privilege of a Universityeducation a privilegeheseeks to makebeneficial to his people. Coulibaly beganhisinformal agricultural educationwhenhewaslittlewithhisfather. This ignitedhis love for plants and the fields a love whichdiligentlymatured as hegrew up. Todayheholds a BSc. degree in Entomologyfrom the National Agronomic Institute of AlgiersAlgeria and an MSc. degree in Phytopathologyobtainedat the Agronomic Sciences Faculty of the University of Gembloux in Belgium. Since 2007 he has worked as a Researcherat the Plant Protection Department of INRAN in Maradi wherehe made laudable contributions to the improvement of groundnut production. Groundnut is a legume of high importance in Niger on account of the scale of production and economic value. In 2007 the production of groundnut in the region of Maradi wascompromised by a severeattack of aphids (Aphiscracivora) vector of the viral disease rosette. In an effort to help fightthis menace Coulibaly developed and administered simple modules in plant protection withemphasis on the use of neemoil to protectagainstpests. The resultswereremarkable. Howevermanyotherconstraintsincludingpests and diseases continue to undermine the yield of groundnut in Niger. Thus the need for qualified Plant Breeders with expertise in groundnut production is urgent. He isexceptionallypleasedwith the opportunity to enrollat WACCI. The acquisition of new techniques in the geneticimprovement of plants willenablehimtransfergenes of interest (Tolerance to drought) intolocallyadaptedimprovedvarieties responsive to soil and climaticrequirements of Niger. The success of this program will no doubtcreate a network of breeders in the West Africanregion to facilitate collaboration and the sharing of information and ideasthatcanbeused to develop new and improvedcropvarieties for the benefit of the people in West Africa and Africa as a whole.