April 2019 - Page 2 of 3

One on one: Regina Kapinga

IITA’s Queen of Roots and Tubers As we continue to celebrate women in science, we interviewed Regina Kapinga, IITA’s first Head of Advocacy and Resource Mobilization, also known as the Queen of Roots and Tubers. Her years of working on cassava and sweet potato earned her an “Appreciation award for outstanding leadership and contribution to…

Fredrick Schreurs giving a presentation at the meeting.

IITA BIP management outlines future path for the unit

Management staff of the IITA Business Incubation Platform (BIP) held a meeting on 20 March at the IITA headquarters in Ibadan. The meeting themed, “When Science meets Business,” was organized to discuss ways to develop a scouting system in which marketable IITA products and services will be promoted through the BIP. IITA BIP takes innovations…

French delegation explores agribusiness collaboration with IITA Abuja

IITA, the French Embassy in Nigeria, and the French Agriculture Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) held a meeting on 27 March at the IITA Abuja Station to strengthen existing partnerships among the three organizations. Read more

USAID Mission Director to Nigeria visits IITA

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director to Nigeria, Stephen Haykin, paid a visit to IITA headquarters on 23 March, to discuss existing partnerships between USAID and IITA. Haykin was received by senior IITA management including Kenton Dashiell, Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery (DDG-P4D) and Hilde Koper-Limbourg, Deputy Director General, Corporate Services…

AfDB Vice President visits IITA

On 26 March, Dr Jennifer Blanke, Vice President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) paid a courtesy visit to IITA headquarters in Ibadan, Nigeria. She was received by IITA Director General, Nteranya Sanginga, the Deputy Director Generals, and members of IITA management. The purpose of her visit was “to see how the collaborations were going…

IITA: Investing in tomorrow’s researchers

For a long time, IITA has recognized gender equality in the workforce as an important ideal to pursue. To achieve this, the Institute has prioritized the development of women in research by investing in the next generation of women scientists and empowering them in their different roles. One of such women being empowered today is…

Using R: Seed health interventions and risk-based surveillance and mitigation strategies

An international workshop on using R packages for Seed Health was held on 18 March at the IITA headquarters in Ibadan, Nigeria. Prof Karen Garrett of the University of Florida, Gainesville, organized the workshop as part of the RTB Seed System Cluster CC2.1., which had in attendance 20 participants representing eight countries, and was co-anchored…

Scientists discuss ways to improve RTB planting materials

The CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) Cross-cutting Cluster 2.1 had its annual meeting on 14 to 16 March at IITA headquarters in Ibadan, Nigeria. The meeting objective was to discuss the progress and main findings on the development and validation of the RTB seed systems Toolbox. Present at the meeting were…

New project launched to improve rural livelihoods and food security in Mali

The newly initiated Climate Smart Agricultural Technologies (CSAT) project was recently launched in Mali at an event held on 19–22 March. The launch ceremony had in attendance the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Innovation and Scientific Research in Mali; the Director General, Institute of Rural Economy (IER); the Ambassador, Norwegian Embassy in Mali; IITA…

DG Sanginga to be awarded honorary title of doctor honoris causa from KU Leuven, Belgium

The Academic Council of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) has nominated DG Nteranya Sanginga to receive the doctor of honoris causa. The award will be conferred on the 20th anniversary of VLIR-UOS, an organization that supports partnerships between higher education institutions in Flanders and the South. The five partner universities under VLIR-UOS will host a ceremony to…