Bulletin story Archives - Page 18 of 138

PIDMA delivers technologies to farmers’ organizations for sustainable cassava and maize production in Cameroon

The IITA Cassava and Maize Breeding Units in Nigeria have developed multiple cassava and maize genotypes with improved yields, starch content, resistance/tolerance to major pests and diseases, and other characteristics that will satisfy industry requirements, such as improved nutritional content (e.g., higher provitamin A content). The deployment of these newly developed varieties into Cameroon required…

RUNRES project to avail animal feed for farmers in Rwanda

The Rural-Urban Nexus, establishing a nutrient loop to improve city-region food system resilience (RUNRES), project team presented the three project-funded innovation plans to Mayor Thadee Tuyizere of Kamonyi District. The innovation plans will help manage and process urban organic waste in the district, where the project is being implemented, to produce important animal feed and…

IITA trains partners on ODK tools for surveillance of new banana disease threat, Fusarium wilt (Foc TR4)

IITA recently conducted a two-day training for national partners from the agriculture plant health services and plant protection departments in Tanzania and Vietnam. The workshop focused on using the Open Data Kit (ODK) tool to facilitate real-time surveillance of invasive pests and diseases in the banana cropping system, including the recent soil-borne fungal disease threat,…

Rural female farmers contributing more to Cameroon’s local economy—IITA-CARE study

According to a 2014 International Labour Office (ILO) study, about half a million young women and a quarter of a million young men can grow food, make goods, and provide services to others in Cameroon. However, several challenges impede the impact of their activities. The study shows that these factors comprise unemployment, poverty, and underemployment,…

Rwanda uses tricot approach to identify the best potato and cassava varieties in various agroecological zones

Governmental (and nongovernmental) agencies regularly develop and release improved crop varieties for the market. In some cases, varieties are released with little information about their performance outside controlled environments. In Rwanda, the Rwanda Agricultural and Animal Resource Development Board (RAB) has recognized this as a problem and looked for solutions to address the lack of…

Study lifts the lid on plantain consumer preferences, adds fresh insights for breeding programs

Over the years, breeders have developed and distributed high-yielding, disease-resistant plantain varieties, but adoption rates have been limited. To understand why, scientists from CGIAR–IITA have published the results of a new study revealing end-user (consumer) perspectives about desirable qualities/characteristics of the plantain fruit and its derivative food products. The research, carried out within the RTBfoods…

IITA gets biotechnology stewardship certification

After completing a three-year audit cycle, IITA has become a certified member of Excellence Through Stewardship (ETS). ETS is a global organization that promotes the adoption of product stewardship programs and quality management systems for the full life cycle of agricultural biotechnology products. IITA joined the ETS organization as a member in late 2016, marking…

Dr Kwesi Attah-Krah, IITA Director of Advocacy and Country Alignment.

Agriculture stakeholders discuss possible solutions to food insecurity and trade challenges in Nigeria

On 29 September, the National Action Committee on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) held a virtual workshop on Agriculture and Agribusiness. The workshop brought together notable professionals in the agricultural sector to discuss sustainable solutions to the challenges of food security and trade in Nigeria and Africa. AfCFTA was created to expand intra-African…

Harnessing insect biodiversity for sustainable plant health in tropical Africa

Fall armyworm (FAW), a ravaging pest of the maize plant, is spreading globally. Every year, Africa, Asia, and the Near East lose 80 million tons of maize worth US$18 billion to the damaging effects of FAW. Georg Goergen, IITA Entomologist and Biocontrol Specialist based in Cotonou, highlighted past and ongoing efforts to control the spread…

IITA strengthens relations with the Nigerian Immigration Service

On a recent visit to CGIAR-IITA, the Zonal Coordinator of Zone ‘F’ of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Assistant Comptroller-General (ACG) Dora Amahian, highlighted possible areas of collaboration with the Institute, including crop production on agency land. ACG Amahian led a 9-person team on the courtesy visit to strengthen institutional relations between the two organizations….