December 2017 | IITA News

Looking towards a more fulfilling 2018 – Nteranya Sanginga, DG

This milestone year has passed by with notable achievements, and all because of staff’s devotion to IITA. The year 2017 was outstanding and unique with the Golden Jubilee celebration as the center of all our activities̶–it was indeed a colorful celebration that.

The R4D landscape in 2018 is looking very good – May-Guri Saethre, DDG, R4D

The year 2017 has been quite eventful and filled with achievements! High on the list is the celebration of IITA Golden Jubilee with the series of activities that culminated in an awesome R4D week and the 50th Anniversary Science Conference on food security challenge for the next 50 years. This greatly enhanced the visibility of IITA within the African region.

Goodwill message from Hilde Koper-Limbourg, DDG, Corporate Services

This was quite a year and it flew by! This was the year of our 50th year anniversary celebration. We had a lot to celebrate as we have achieved much over the last 50 years. Without you, the staff, these achievements would not have been possible.

The future is looking bright for P4D, IITA, and agriculture in Africa – Kenton Dashiell, DDG, P4D

A new dawn is knocking with so much optimism as the new year is almost here. We have had so many reasons to celebrate 50 years of outstanding research and now the new Partnerships for Delivery (P4D) Directorate in partnership with Governments, the private sector, NGOs, and IITA’s R4D is ready to play a significant role in Transforming African Agriculture.

IITA board approves new work-life balance policy

The IITA Board of Trustees (BoT) has approved the new work-life balance policy during the board’s annual meeting in November 2017. This is according to the board’s 2017 full report delivered by the chairman of the board, Dr Bruce Coulman when he visited the IITA Central African Hub Coordination office in Nairobi on 27 November.

(L-R) Elizabeth Parkes, Waheed Quader, Sikiru Asifat, Peter Kulakow, and FMS Unit members.

Cassava unit donates new rakes to FMS

On 15 December, the Cassava Breeding unit presented 25 new rakes to members of the Facility Management Services unit (FMS) of IITA to enhance their work. Peter Kulakow, Cassava Breeder/Geneticist, chaired the presentation of the Troy Bilt rakes to FMS. While addressing staff he said: “One of the things we do here in IITA is help to improve our work especially through the better use of tools

New Intranet on Sharepoint to be launched soon!

To enhance collaboration and internal communication among staff as well as address concerns with the current Intranet, the Communication Unit (CU) and the Data and Information Management Unit (DIMU) wish to announce that the new Intranet on the SharePoint platform will be launched on 22 January 2018.

IITA News survey: Tell us what you think!

As we approach the end of the year, we say thank you for reading and supporting IITA News. We want to give you a better experience in 2018 and so we request your kind assistance in providing feedback about our newsletter.

IITA commences confined field trials of transgenic cassava

IITA was recently granted a permit to carry out confined field trials (CFT) on genetically modified cassava (AMY3 RNAi transgenic lines). This research, carried out in collaboration with ETHZ Plant Biotechnology Lab in Zurich, aims to reduce starch breakdown in storage roots of cassava after pruning the shoots, prior to harvest of the crop.

Bernard Vanlauwe addressing participants.

Researchers and policymakers meet in Tanzania to discuss cassava agronomy

Scientists across Africa and their colleagues in other parts of the world met with policymakers in Tanzania under the auspices of the African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) to discuss the progress made in the last two years in providing clues to the agronomy of cassava.