Maria Andrade has dedicated 22 years to Mozambique. Initially, she served as a regional agronomist for cassava and sweetpotato with SARRNET. Later, she managed a 5-year project on Cassava and Sweetpotato Planting Materials for IITA/CIP. In 2006, she joined CIP to oversee the SASHA Southern Africa Sweetpotato Platform. She’s introduced 30 bio-fortified sweetpotato varieties, including 20 drought-tolerant ones. Maria serves as CIP’s country manager, SASHA breeder for Southern Africa & Asia, and holds leadership positions. She was Vice President for Fundraising at ISTRC global, board member of Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa, and External Panel Reviewer for NextGen Cassava. Additionally, she’s a member of the high-level group of champions for the Food Forever Initiative. Notable recognitions include being named a Nutrition Champion by Transform Nutrition in 2013, receiving an appreciation award from ISTRC-AB for her exceptional contributions to RTC in Africa, and being honoured as an outstanding alumna by NCSU. In 2016, she was recognised as a co-laureate of the World Food Prize, and in 2017, she received the Swaminathan Award for Environmental Protection. She was nominated as one of the 5th Wonder Women of Agriculture by USDA in March 2018, and she earned the title of 2018 Cape Verdean Woman of the Year on July 7th, 2018.