November 2019 - IITA News

Decade-long trials prove efficacy of Nigeria’s aflatoxin biocontrol product

An IITA-led partnership has honed aflatoxin biocontrol for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for over 15 years. Recently, the team published a landmark journal article reporting a 10-year study on the efficacy of Aflasafe®, a registered biocontrol product for aflatoxin management in Nigeria. This is the longest-running, most extensive study on efficacy of any biocontrol product or management practice…

IITA Scientist elected to prestigious global science body

Leena Tripathi, a Principal Scientist with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Deputy Director of IITA’s Eastern Africa hub has been elected as a fellow to the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Tripathi received this recognition because of her distinguished contribution to developing robust genetic transformation platforms for…

IITA launches International Year of Plant Health (IYPH) 2020 at R4D Week

With decades of research contributing to the improvement of plant health globally and across Africa in particular, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is joining the plant science community on 22 November to launch the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH) 2020. The IYPH 2020 is a year long observance with the theme, “Protecting…

Sasakawa Africa Association signs MoU with IITA to strengthen already existing partnership

The Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) team met with the IITA Board of Trustees (BoT) at IITA Ibadan campus on 20 November. The meeting was for the purpose of signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their already existing partnership and discuss more partnership opportunities. SAA was founded in Geneva in 1986 by Ryoichi Sasakawa…

Data Focus: Equity in Open Access

The world observed Open Access week 2019 from 21 to 27 October. The theme, “Open for whom? Equity in Open Access” raised important considerations about the various users of open access data and publications as well as the usage of such open access materials or data. According to Opensource.com, Open Access means making your work…

YIIFSWA-II exhibits at Annual NASC Seed Fair and Farmers Day

The National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) held its annual Seed Fair and Farmers Day on 17 October, at their headquarters in Sheda, Abuja. The theme of this year’s event was “Making quality seeds available, accessible and affordable to Nigerian farmers.” The new Federal Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono indicated that there…

Success Stories: Turning cassava into cash in Malawi

Kaboma Banda, sitting under the shadow of a partially leafy tree in his courtyard, peels off a gigantic cassava tuber. His grass-thatched house located in the somewhat hilly terrain of Chintheche village in Nkhata Bay District of Northern Malawi is only accessible through craggy paths lined with shrubs and arid grass. But the 48-year old…

IITA Kano hosts CSAT project implementation partners from Mali and Niger Republic

A team of CSAT/IITA project staff and collaborating partners from Mali and Niger Republic visited IITA, Kano Station on 15 October as part of the four-day exchange visit aimed at facilitating knowledge transfer and sharing experience on improved agricultural technologies in the development of smallholder agriculture productivity. Mr Reuben leading the field visit. Photo by…

IITA joins other CGIAR centers to provide support to rebuild Somalia’s Agriculture sector

IITA and eight other CGIAR centers have met with officials from the Government of Somalia and several agriculture development partners to put together a plan to rehabilitate Somalia’s agricultural sector following years of conflict in the country. The meeting took place on 24 September at ICRAF offices in Nairobi, Kenya. Donor organizations with development programs…

IITA launches new Bibliography

To fulfill its open access mandate, IITA has launched an upgrade of the Institute’s research and knowledge output repository, the IITA Bibliography. The new version was unveiled on 14 August as part of the IITA Communication Open House, which took place in Ibadan, Nigeria. The new IITA Bibliography is built on the open-source DSpace software;…