IITA News

Research centers call for innovation and stronger partnerships to scale up Africa’s food systems

Science, research, and innovation are essential to accelerate the transformation to healthier, more sustainable, more equitable, and more resilient food systems. What scientific innovations are needed and how they can inform related policies were among the issues discussed at the recent Science Days, a virtual conference organized by the Scientific Group as a prelude to…

IITA and partner Touton Ltd. consult coffee farmers on diversification strategies

The IITA Uganda Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Team conducted focus group discussions with more than 150 smallholder coffee, vanilla, and cocoa farmers in Kasese district, western Uganda, last May. The activity is part of a collaboration between the Sustainable Food Lab, USAID, Touton, and IITA that brings together the private sector, agricultural researchers, and smallholder farmers to improve smallholder farmer…

Mechanical legume planter reduces drudgery for female farmers in Mozambique

Mechanization has been recognized as an essential factor in agriculture development efforts to save on labor and time in many farming operations for smallholder farmers. In Mozambique, IITA conducted a study on a hand push manual seeder (HPMS), also known as the Legume Hand Push Manual Planter (LHPMP), to be used by farmers, particularly female…

IITA Forest Center prepares trainers for Olokemeji School Conservation Clubs

As the Olokemeji reforestation project swings into full gear, the IITA Forest Center held its first training for School Conservation Club (SCC) leaders held in Ibadan on 15 and 16 July. This partially fulfills the project’s mandates to bring children on board as critical conveners of biodiversity conservation efforts for sustainable succession. The two-day instructor-led…

Hope for Tanzanian banana farmers with the official release of new “matooke” hybrids

Tanzania has officially released four new, improved hybrids of the important staple cooking banana, “matooke”. This is a first for matooke bananas in Tanzania. These hybrids are resistant to important pests and diseases ravaging the current varieties that millions of farmers across the country are growing and, as such, herald an exciting era for banana…

New crop-livestock technologies to mitigate conflict between crop and livestock farmers in DRC

More than 20 farmers from Katogota and Kamanyola in the Ruzizi plain of South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), took part in a participatory evaluation of intercropping trials of maize and Brachiaria grass. IITA organized this activity on 14 July as part of the Integrated Project for Agricultural Growth in the Great Lakes…

IITA and partners organize seed fair in Kano and Jigawa

From 10 to 15 June, IITA and partners organized a joint seed fair in the northern Nigerian Kano and Jigawa states. The seed fair aimed to create awareness among farmers on the availability of seeds of improved crop varieties and help them to access quality seeds for enhanced productivity. Additional objectives are to provide market…

YIIFSWA II hands over project outputs to GoSeed for post-project sustainability

The Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa Phase II (YIIFSWA II) project has handed over some project outputs to IITA GoSeed to ensure the post-project sustainability of the technologies. In a short ceremony on 14 July, the project turned over 42 plant form temporary immersion bioreactors (TIS) and 40 plantlets, as…

A life-changing experience with I-Youth – Series 1

The Innovative Youth in Agriculture (I-Youth) project has completed year 1 activities across various project components in Kaduna, Kano, and Lagos states. IITA is implementing the I-Youth project in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, cutting across six components: agricultural orientation, agribusiness internships, technical internships, young farmers’ cohort, Start Them Early Program (STEP), and e-commerce. The…

AGRA Board chair, former Ethiopia PM, and Tanzania President tour IITA-Tanzania

IITA-Tanzania recently hosted the Board Chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), former Ethiopian Prime Minister H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn, and the former Tanzania President H.E. Jakaya Kikwete, who is also an AGRA board member and senior staff of the organization. H.E. Desalegn was in the country to familiarize himself with AGRA’s…