James Legg is a Principal Scientist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), based at IITA’s East Africa Hub in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. His research on plant viruses and their insect vectors has a particular focus on the epidemiology of cassava mosaic and cassava brown streak viruses in Africa, and the development and deployment of management strategies. James leads IITA’s Plant and Seed Health for Agriculture (PASHA) at the Hub in Tanzania, as well as the Institute-wide Seed Systems Programme. He recently represented IITA within the OneCGIAR Seed Equal Initiative, leading research on vegetatively-propagated crop seed systems, and also co-leads a five-year project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation entitled ‘Programme for Seed System Innovation for Vegetatively-propagated crops in Africa (PROSSIVA)’. Strengthening capacity for agricultural research and development is a key part of James’ work, and he has been an enthusiastic supervisor for almost 50 MSc and PhD students, many of whom have gone on to play important roles in African agricultural research. James also plays a lead role within IITA and the CGIAR in communicating about agricultural research and the environment through social media.