WEMA/TELA Maize Partnership (led by AATF & CIMMYT)
Startup
Summarized by Halo AI
The TELA Maize Project is an AATF-led partnership developing and commercializing drought-tolerant and insect-protected transgenic maize to improve food security and smallholder farmer productivity across sub-Saharan Africa.
Founded & HQ
Nairobi, Kenya
Company size
11-50 employees
Funding
~$29.6M
IP status
2 grants confirmed
Activity highlights
Released and commercialized the transgenic TELA maize hybrid SAMMAZ 75T in Nigeria, yielding 5.85 metric tons per hectare.
WEMA (Water Efficient Maize for Africa) was a project that brought together CIMMYT, national research programs, and private companies (like Monsanto, now Bayer) to develop drought-tolerant maize, later incorporating a Bt insect resistance trait under the name TELA. Co-funded by the Gates Foundation, USAID, and others, it has been a flagship project for climate adaptation in African agriculture.
AI summary generated on Jun 22, 2026
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TS
Tesfaye shiferaw Sida
Researcher
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