Ismail Rabbi is the Cassava Breeding Lead at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), based in Ibadan, Nigeria. In this role, Dr. Ismail leads breeding initiatives to develop improved cassava varieties for food security and industry. With a PhD in Population Genetics and Plant Breeding from the University of Hohenheim, Ismail brings extensive expertise in genetics and utilization of genomics to breeding programs.

Ismail has worked at IITA since 2009, initially as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Molecular Breeding, progressing to Scientist and Senior Scientist before he got this new role. In addition, Ismail is the Global Cassava Crop Lead in the RTB Breeding Project, focusing on accelerating breeding progress across Africa and beyond.

Ismail is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (since 2022) and an Associate Editor for The Plant Phenome Journal.