Donors express confidence in IITA projects in DRC
A delegation of representatives from Food for the Hungry (FH), a donor to the Tuendelee Pamoja II (TP II) project, gave a glowing commendation of the IITA-implemented initiatives in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Led by the FH director for food security and livelihoods Dr Claude Nankam, the team visited the Centre of Agribusiness and Agro-Service (CAAS) at Katana village, one of business centers established by the Crop-Livestock Integration Project (CLiP) in Eastern DRC, South Kivu Province, as part of their monitoring trip to see some of the technologies introduced by IITA in the region that can be scaled up.
Mrs Charlotte Sanginga and Dr Claude Nankam in a group photo with IITA scientists, piggery and poultry business group farmers at CAAS office in Katana
Under the funding of United States Agency for International Development (USAID), FH is implementing TP II in partnership with CGIAR centers including the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), and led by IITA. The project aims to improve food and nutrition security and economic well-being of vulnerable households in South-Kivu and Tanganyika provinces.
Part of the TP II project implementation is to scale some of the activities and initiatives that were started by previous projects and that have proven sustainability and created transformation within the beneficiary communities.
CLiP—funded by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)—is one of such projects that was led by IITA and has registered such remarkable success in creating sustainable sources of income, nutrition, food security, and successfully engaging the government at the policy level.
The team was accompanied by Paul Dontsop-Nguezet of IITA, who leads the TP II project on the CGIAR side. They visited different enterprises including the piggery farming owned by 20 women, the poultry farm owned by 15 youth, the cassava processing facilities (inherited from closed AfDB-sponsored cassava projects owned by 5 businessmen, the veterinary office (call center and veterinary drug shop) operated by 20 veterinary technicians, the vegetable garden for demonstration of mushroom and vegetable production for household consumption and sales as well as for feeding livestock with the residues, and the information and communication technology (ICT) network facility that connect CAAS enterprises to input and output market and other service providers.
Speaking after the visit NanKam said he was impressed with the success of the activities at the center showcasing IITA’s ability to successfully implement such complex and multisectoral projects.
“From what we have seen today (at Katana) I am confident that IITA will contribute immensely to the implementation of TP II and the efforts will bear fruits for the beneficiaries where we are intervening especially through the youth program that will also play a crucial role under the aquaculture component of the project,” said NanKam.
Madame Charlotte Sanginga, the wife of Director General N. Sanginga, accompanied the delegation on the trip and was exuberant about the milestones accomplished at Katana especially on empowering the women and youth.
TP II is being implemented as one of the Climate Smart Agriculture projects under the Natural Resource Management research theme.
