Aflasafe commercialization team holds workshop at IITA-Ibadan
The Aflasafe Technology Transfer and Commercialization (ATTC) project team held a 3-day, kick-off workshop to develop a cohesive understanding of the vision and scope of the commercialization component of the project, approach, and expected outcomes.
ATTC Managing Director Abdou Konlambigue (right) leading the discussion with the Aflasafe commercialization team
The workshop took place at IITA Headquarters in Ibadan, 14-16 September, and brought together staff representatives from Chemonics/Dalberg, and IITA-Ghana, -Kenya, -Nigeria, and -Senegal.
Speaking at the workshop, ATTC Managing Director Abdou Konlambigue said that the workshop gives the different members of the team the opportunity to know each other, and initiate the planning of the interventions that would enable them to have a common vision on how to commercialize Aflasafe™ in the countries where Aflasafe™ products are registered. “At the end of this workshop, we should have a common vision about the commercialization of Aflasafe™. It is also crucial to clarify the roles and responsibilities of individuals and organizations at the onset to ensure a successful implementation of the project,” Konlambigue said.
Also speaking at the workshop, Mario Kerby, Director, West Africa and Haiti, Chemonics, said a common understanding of the objectives of the project is useful to achieve project goals. “We have to work effectively as a team ready to provide support on the commercialization component…the project target is to have 100,000 hectares treated with AflasafeTM by June 2017, and 500,000 hectares treated by November 2020,” Kerby stated.
The ATTC project is funded jointly by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It is designed to carefully and efficiently identify strategic options for partnership with private companies or government entities, execute those partnerships, and help ensure that Aflasafe™ reaches millions of farmers. The 5-year project covers 11 countries (Burkina Faso, the Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia) where Aflasafe™ is registered or in the process of becoming a nationally registered product. As part of the ATTC, IITA is partnering with organizations with significant experience in commercializing agricultural products, technology transfer, and agribusiness go-to market strategy development. The Consortium Chemonics/Dalberg was selected to support IITA in the commercialization of the product.
