Julia Sibiya is the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) Capacity development Lead in the Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) program, CIMMYT, based in Nairobi, Kenya. She is also affiliated with the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN, South Africa) as an honorary associate Professor. Julia holds a B.Sc. in Agriculture from the University of Zimbabwe, an M.Sc. in Plant Pathology & Virology from The Ohio State University (USA), and a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding from the UKZN. She has over 30 years experience in teaching and research, focusing on both conventional and molecular breeding tools for various traits, mainly disease resistance, drought tolerance and grain quality in various crops, particularly maize, sorghum and underutilized crops such as Bambara ground nut. As President of the African Plant Breeders Association, she is especially dedicated to advancing plant breeding capacity development.