IITA makes headway in structure revitalizing effort; recruits new DDG-R4D and directors

IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga, this week, in an update to the Board of Trustees and staff, announced the recruitment of three key staff in the Institute: May-Guri Saethre, the new Deputy Director General (Research for Development), who takes over Ylva Hillbur, who left IITA in February; Director of Research Support Tonny Omwansa, and Director of Delivery and Development Alfred Dixon.

Last year, IITA initiated an organizational reform process to better accommodate and deliver on the influx of projects, staff, and donor requests it was receiving. The move was marked with a decision to refocus the Institute’s goal towards effective delivery of outputs as well as judicious management and use of donor funds all geared towards gaining donor confidence.

As a result, it became necessary to recategorize existing directorates and units within the Institute, hire a new Deputy Director General for Corporate Services, and rebrand IITA as a research and development institution, changing its tagline to Transforming African Agriculture.

Sanginga reported that the Institute has recorded more progress in the implementation of the decisions taken towards its revitalization.

Saethre, the new DDG for Research for Development, holds a PhD in Agricultural Entomology from the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Norway.

Upon assumption on 1 May, she will focus on improving IITA’s quality of science, strengthening IITA Benin. Cotonou and transforming it into an international center for plant health and climate change, impacting the hubs, and promoting teamwork among scientists. Saethre will also be a member of the management team.

Omwansa joined IITA in January and will be taking care of four research support units: Communication, Data Information and Management, Monitoring & Evaluation, and Project Development and Administration.

Dixon, who used to head the Partnerships Coordination Office under P4D, takes on a bigger portfolio to ensure delivery and impact of IITA’s research results.

Furthermore, Sanginga shared plans of the Institute to partner with the Federal Government of Nigeria to ameliorate the ongoing food crisis in Northern Nigeria.

“We are dubbing the initiative Seeds of Renaissance to drive home the message that we would like to help rebuild and help Borno State to become resilient in the face of insurgency and terrorism through agriculture.”

IITA will be organizing donations of high quality seed of cowpea, soybean, maize, and cassava to the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) for planting by farmers of Borno State in the upcoming cropping season. IITA will also contact sister centers in the CGIAR working in Nigeria who could provide seeds of other important crops, such as rice (Africa Rice Center), wheat (ICARDA), sorghum, millet, and groundnut (ICRISAT) during this emergency period.

IITA has taken the lead to ensure that this new way of working makes a meaningful contribution to the sustainable development goals overall and in sub-Saharan Africa,” Sanginga stated.

Other developments include progress being made in preparation for the implementation of the mega projects Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) and the Empowering Noble Agri-Business Led Employment (ENABLE Youth) Program funded by the African Development Bank.

The DG also revealed that the Institute is financially stable to implement all its projects—old and new, but that we need to take stock of our finances and spending so as to make an informed forecast of IITA’s needs in the next five years (2017-2021).