She completed further education at the North Carolina State University, earning a Doctor of Philosophy degree in plant breeding in 1994.

[2] Andrade began her agricultural career when she started a Cape Verdean vegetable planting program in 1984.

While leading the National Research Institute in Cape Verde, Andrade became a member of the Food and Agriculture Organization in 1994.

From 1996 to 2001, she worked for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture as a sweet potato agronomist for a research group in Southern Africa.

[4] Andrade's research in sweet potatoes' value of providing the daily vitamin A requirements has led to the global support in their use in biofortification.