Eastonce Tendayi Gwata is a specialist in Crop Genetic Improvement with special emphasis on tropical legumes. He previously worked at the Crop Breeding Institute (Harare, Zimbabwe) and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid   Tropics (Nairobi, Kenya). Currently, Eastonce is a full Professor at the University of
Venda (South Africa). He is recognized as a leading scientist in legume genetic improvement particularly in Africa. He received awards and recognition from the Australia International Development Assistance Bureau (AIDAB), Rockefeller Foundation (USA), the University of Florida (USA), Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society of Agriculture (Florida Chapter, USA), WHO’s Who in Science and Engineering(Marquis, USA), American Society of Plant Biologists, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the National Research Foundation (NRF, South Africa) among others. To date, Eastonce has developed new legume cultivars in several tropical legumes including chickpea (C. arietinum), pigeonpea (C. cajan), tepary bean (P.acutifolius) and soybean (G. max) that are adapted mainly to the semi-arid SADC /southern Africa mega-environment. In addition, he has supervised and co-supervised more than 25 postgraduate students and published 15 book chapters as well as over150 peer reviewed research / conference / technical papers. Currently, he is focusing on the molecular aspects of N 2 -fixation and proteomics of legumes (https://orcid.org/0000-
0001-6282-7650).