IITA News

IITA Women’s Group awards scholarships

The IITA Women’s Group (WG) organized a scholarship award ceremony at the Institute’s headquarters on 22 November. The award scheme is designed to assist IITA national staff on or below PG 6 in sponsoring their children for an academic session. The ceremony was attended by members of WG led by Charlotte Sanginga, Head of the…

IITA research data now more visible to users!

The visibility of IITA research datasets in GARDIAN in 2018 is a major achievement for IITA, championed by the Data Management team under the Communication Unit. GARDIAN, an acronym for Global Agricultural Research Data Innovation and Acceleration Network, is a search engine created by CGIAR to crawl and index datasets as well as publications in…

Tracking adoption of improved varieties in informal seed systems using GBS markers: A case study using cassava

Assessing the impact of crop improvement has been a concern for agricultural researchers as varieties tend to look alike. Improved varieties of cassava, a clonally propagated crop, were mostly disseminated through informal seed systems, making the task of variety tracking difficult. However, researchers from IITA, Michigan State University, and Ghana’s Council for Scientific and Industrial…

IITA’s transformation initiative pays off in Africa

IITA has lifted 7.2 million Africans out of poverty through its research innovations. The success of projects carried out by the Institute in 2018 has immensely helped in achieving a large percentage of its goal, according to Director General Nteranya Sanginga. Sanginga, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that as…

Board Chair Amos Namanga Ngongi cuts the ribbon to open the new Tissue Culture

IITA Tissue Culture Building launched in grand style

On 30 November, the 2018 P4D Week closed with the commissioning of the Tissue Culture Building. The event, which was anchored by Katherine Lopez, Head of Communication, was attended by a thousand staff members led by IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga, all the Deputy Director Generals, IITA Board Chair Amos Namanga Ngongi, and Board members,…

IITA score card: Over 7.2 million people lifted out of poverty and 800+ ha of degraded lands restored

By 2018 IITA Socioeconomics and Natural Resource Management teams estimate that the Institute would have already lifted 7.2 million people out of poverty and rehabilitated 875,500 ha of degraded land. These are efforts towards realization of the Institute’s vision of lifting 7.5 million people out of poverty and rehabilitating 10.5 million of degraded land and…

Youth in Agribusiness Office lead Evelyn Ohanwusi

IYA maps out strategies to encourage youth engagement in agriculture

During the 2018 P4D Week which took place 26 to 30 November, the IITA Youth in Agribusiness office laid out some of the strategies and methods it is employing to encourage youth engagement in agriculture and enhance the growth of youth-led agricultural initiatives. At an earlier presentation, the ENABLE-TAAT Youth Coordinator and Head of the…

IITA targets scaling and sustainability in research development and delivery

The IITA Development and Delivery Office gave an outline of new generation scaling activities and projects that it is implementing to ensure the actualization of the IITA transformation agenda across sub-Saharan Africa. These were highlighted on the opening day of the 2018 P4D Week which took place between 26 and 30 November. In his presentation…

P4D Week reiterates IITA’s commitment to go beyond research

More than 200 scientists, development experts, and researchers from all IITA hubs, along with members of the IITA Board of Trustees, convened at IITA Headquarters in Ibadan for the 2018 Partnerships for Delivery (P4D) Week, on 26–30 November. The 5-day event, themed, “Beyond Research,” provided an opportunity for the participants to interact, exchange ideas, and…

IITA Cameroon participates in the “first ever” World Soil Day celebration

On 5 December, staff of IITA Cameroon, led by Martin Yemefack, IITA Senior Scientist, convened at the main campus of The Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), Nkolbisson in Yaoundé, to participate in the World Soil Day 2018 celebration. Being the maiden edition, the event was commemorated with a symposium themed “Soil nutrient management:…