IITA News

IITA focuses on integrated digital tools for accelerating agricultural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa

IITA has been at the forefront of using information and communication technologies (ICTs) for research management and knowledge sharing, including extension, scaling out, e-learning, collaboration, and agricultural services enhancement. Recently, ICTs have fast emerged as frontline tools for transforming agricultural systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Governments, developmental organizations, and the donor community are increasingly depending on ICTs…

IITA’s work, fundamental for Africa’s stability and development– Belgian Ambassador

IITA’s work, fundamental to Africa’s stability and development – Belgian Ambassador

On a recent visit to IITA Ibadan, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to Nigeria, His Excellency, Mr Daniel Bertrand, described the Institute’s work as fundamental for Africa’s stability and development. The Ambassador visited the headquarters for the first time to engage with and understand IITA’s research and operations better. The Belgian Embassy’s Director,…

Scaling up innovations: IITA’s commitment to African agricultural transformation

In 2017, IITA celebrated 50 years of service to Africa and its smallholder farmers in particular. Since then, the Institute has advanced even further in its mission to transform African agriculture through collaboration with farmers and farming communities, youth and women in agribusiness, and other partner-stakeholders. IITA’s 2019 Annual Report detailed this work and highlighted the delivery of…

IITA trains women on homestead gardening

Achieving food security also involves addressing nutrient deficiency. Using the space around a house, families can often raise a homestead garden to supplement the nutritional quality of home meals. Through the USAID-funded Feed-the-future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity, IITA trained 300 women in homestead gardening between 7 and 10 December in northeastern Nigeria. The training covered…

Tanzania farmers winning against climate change

“Climate change has been affecting us greatly. For example, in the past, we knew when the growing seasons were. Now the rains sometimes come early and sometimes they are late. Sometimes we get a big harvest, and sometimes we get very little,” says Hassan Haji Fumu, a farmer from Mahonda village in Kaskazini B district,…

NYSC partners with IITA to create opportunities for Nigerian youth

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and IITA are partnering to open up opportunities to youth in Nigeria. The two organizations signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to that effect during a recent visit of the NYSC Director General, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, to IITA Headquarters, Ibadan. IITA Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery, Kenton…

IITA trains extension agents and agro-input dealers on Integrated Pests Management for cowpea production

Through the Feed the Future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity, IITA recently trained extension agents and agro-input dealers in Adamawa and Borno States on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques for cowpea production. The training exposed participants to a pest control system that does not depend on the automatic application of pesticides; instead, the IPM regulates pests using various control measures, including mechanical, cultural, and biological. The IPM focuses on pest management that…

FAO to partner with IITA in reducing world hunger and malnutrition

The new representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Nigeria and his team recently visited IITA headquarters to strengthen the partnership between FAO and IITA by exploring IITA technologies and discover more areas of collaboration. Smallholder farmers are faced continually with the impacts of climate change. FAO seeks to collaborate with other institutes…

IITA to lead One-Health in Ghana-Benin under AICCRA Project

In a bid to help African countries strengthen the resilience of their agricultural sector against the threat posed by climate change, a $60 million grant has been awarded for the ‘Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa’ (AICCRA) project. The project will concentrate its activities in six countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Senegal,…

Scientists reveal the hybrid origin of the white Guinea yam

An international team of scientists has revealed the origin of the most popular food staple in Africa, the white Guinea yam. Yam is a major staple widely consumed in West Africa. This starchy tuber is an important food crop that contributes to the sustenance and sociocultural lives of over 300 million people in the region….