IITA News

ACAI partner establishes 492 training plots for scaling AKILIMO

The Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC), a primary partner of the Africa Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI), has established and planted 492 validation trial sites for AKILIMO. Also, TFNC set up 46 demonstration sites across the ecological zones covered by ACAI. Planting took place between October 2019 and April 2020 because of the varying ecological…

Paper on using genome-editing tools to develop climate-smart banana varieties among the top-most downloaded

While banana is an important staple crop feeding more than 500 million people in the tropical and subtropical countries, its production is negatively affected by a myriad of factors including diseases and pests, declining soil fertility, and climate change. Efforts to develop improved disease resistant and drought tolerant banana varieties are, however, slowed down by…

IITA and Mastercard Foundation to implement Young Africa Works in Nigeria

The Youth in Agribusiness office of CGIAR-IITA is partnering with the Mastercard Foundation in Nigeria to implement the Young Africa Works strategy. A joint media release on 16 June formally announcing this collaborative effort said that the partnership aims to enable 242,724 young Nigerian women and men to build skills and secure dignified and fulfilling…

Production and distribution of Aflasafe KE01TM continue despite COVID-19 restrictions

As Kenya puts in place measures to protect the lives of its citizens from the devastating coronavirus disease, COVID-19, efforts to also protect lives by ensuring food is safe and free from the devastating aflatoxin have been going on. The team from the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and the International Institute of…

Nodumax production team before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nodumax set for full production despite the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting global food systems, disrupting regional agricultural value chains, and posing risks to household food security. It has created a heightened awareness of food safety among producers, businesses, governments, and consumers. The agricultural input production and supply industry is facing many challenges around production and logistics. This affected the unit at…

Wodada Wilberforce from IITA interviewing farmers for a survey

Middlemen play a vital role in strengthening Ugandan coffee value chain, study finds

In many countries in Africa, middlemen are often perceived as the “bad guys” out to exploit and defraud farmers. However, a study by IITA found that on the contrary, middlemen play an important part in the Ugandan coffee value chain. It further recommends the exploration of opportunities to include middlemen as active contributors in building…

The IITA Forest Center maintains a rigorous system of nature conservation in its parks and forest.

IITA celebrates World Environment Day

To celebrate this year’s World Environment Day, the CGIAR-IITA Forest Center, Corporate Services Directorate, and Communication Office organized a virtual event on 5 June as part of activities to create awareness and action for protecting the environment. The theme for this year’s event, which is celebrated annually, was “Time for Nature” to emphasize the importance…

Agribusiness made easy through the use of ICT

IITA partners with Mastercard Foundation in Nigeria to implement Young Africa Works

Lagos, Nigeria 16 June, 2020 – The International Institute of Topical Agriculture (IITA), through its Youth in Agribusiness office, is partnering with the Mastercard Foundation in Nigeria to implement the Young Africa Works strategy. The partnership aims to enable 242,724 young Nigerian women and men to build skills and secure dignified and fulfilling work opportunities…

IITA alumnus named 2020 World Food Prize Laureate!

The World Food Prize Foundation, on 11 June, announced leading soil scientist and IITA alumnus Dr Rattan Lal, as the 50th World Food Prize Laureate. The Foundation’s Selection Committee chose Dr Lal for “developing and mainstreaming a soil-centric approach to increasing food production while conserving natural resources and mitigating climate change.” World Food Prize Foundation…

Top Tanzanian officials seek ONE-CGIAR collaboration on scaling research technologies

The Permanent Secretary (PS) at the Tanzania Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Ms Dorothy Mwaluko, has identified the scaling up of innovative technologies from research to farmers as a major challenge to the growth of the agriculture sector in the country and therefore a priority area of collaboration with ONE CGIAR. The PS noted that farmers…