Prof. (Mrs.) Dilys Sefakor MacCarthy, an alumna of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, has been promoted to Professor of Plant Nutrition by the University of Ghana.
Her promotion also marks a milestone for the university’s School of Agriculture, where she is the first female professor, underscoring her contributions to agricultural science, research and policy.
Prof. MacCarthy currently heads the Soil and Irrigation Research Centre (SIREC) under the School of Agriculture, College of Basic and Applied Sciences. Her elevation reflects years of work in plant nutrition, soil fertility and agronomy.
She attended Mawuli School, where she obtained her Ordinary and Advanced Level certificates in 1991 and 1993, respectively. She later earned a bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources Management from KNUST in 1999, and went on to the University of Bonn, where she obtained an MPhil in Agricultural Science in 2003 and a PhD in 2007 through the Centre for Development Research (ZEF).
Prof. MacCarthy’s research focuses on improving nutrient use efficiency in cereal-based farming systems, particularly among smallholder farmers, while addressing climate risks and adaptation in West African agriculture. She is also known for her work in agricultural systems modelling and integrated nutrient management, and teaches at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
She has contributed to international research and policy initiatives, including the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP), and has collaborated with organisations such as the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture.
Prof. MacCarthy served as co-convenor of the African Union Technical Working Group on Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change for Agri-food Systems, contributing to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Strategy and Action Plan (2026–2035) and the Kampala CAADP Declaration launched in January 2025.
Her international engagements include participation in a panel discussion at a United Nations General Assembly side event in 2023 on global food security, and she has been nominated as a founding member of the AgMIP Partners Board of Directors.
She serves on the editorial boards of journals including Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Scientific Reports, CABI Agriculture and Bioscience and Frontiers in Food Systems, and has secured more than $2 million in research funding and graduate training support.
