IITA News

IITA Youth Agripreneurs program wins international award for youth empowerment innovations

In recognition of its commitment to improving both agribusiness opportunities and creditworthiness of youth across Africa, the IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA) program has been awarded the 2019 International Innovation Award for Sustainable Food and Agriculture. The award, the first of its kind, is funded by the Government of Switzerland and was presented, in conjuction with…

New South-Kivu Minister of Agriculture commends IITA progress in PICAGL implementation

On 18 June, implementation partners on the Integrated Project for Agricultural Growth in the Great Lakes [Projet Intégré de Croissance Agricole dans les Grands Lacs (PICAGL)] were received in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), at the office of the Honorable Minister of Agriculture for South-Kivu Province, his Excellency Marcelin Amani Bahaya. The partners were…

TAAT discusses ongoing activities in workshop

Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), a program initiated by the African Development Bank (AfDB) as part of its Feed Africa Initiative, held a workshop at IITA, Ibadan. The meeting, which took place 27-28 June, brought together representatives from AfDB as well as executing and implementing agencies, the TAAT Program Unit, the Clearinghouse, and coordinators…

Event announcement: 3rd National Annual Conference of the Society for Underutilized Legumes to be held in Ibadan, Nigeria

The Society for Underutilized Legumes (SUL) will hold its 3rd National Annual Conference, 9-11 July 2019 at the Institute of Agricultural Research & Training (IAR&T) in Ibadan, Nigeria. The conference will feature field trips, plenary sessions, the Annual General Meeting, the official launch of the SUL website (www.sulegumes.org/) and the Society journal: Journal of Underutilized…

FPI collaborates with IITA to establish floating cages on Lake Kivu

The IITA-Kalambo station on 5 June hosted a four-member team from Fond pour la Promotion Industrielle (FPI). Their visit was to consolidate a grant agreement on the Pilot Project of Tilapia in Cages/South Kivu [Projet Pilote des Tilapias en Cages/Sud Kivu (PPTC/SK)] project aimed at improving tilapia production in Lake Kivu through the cage system…

IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga meets DRC President in Kinshasa this week

IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga met with His Excellency Felix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this week in Kinshasa, the capital of DRC. Dr Sanginga was part of the delegation led by President Akinwumi Adesina, President, Africa Development Bank (AfDB) that went to DRC for a four-day official visit. Sanginga used the opportunity to…

Biocontrol solutions to “Fusarium wilt of banana” emerge

The banana crop and industry has experienced extreme losses due to an epidemic of Fusarium wilt of banana (FWB), caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense (Foc). This was described in the recently published article “Biological control agents against Fusarium wilt of banana.” FWB, also known as Panama disease, has plagued countries in Africa, Asia, and Australia. The disease…

TAAT collaborates with CORAF on implementation assessment of Harmonized Regional Seed Regulation

Major actors of the seed industry in West Africa met in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, on 11-12 June to assess progress made in implementing the harmonized regional seed regulation. The Harmonized Regional Seed Regulation was adopted in 2008 by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and in 2009 by the West African Economic…

AfricaYam visits BTI and NextGen ahead of the project’s proposed second phase

The AfricaYam Project Leader, Patrick Adebola and IITA Yam Breeder, Asrat Amele recently visited Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) and NextGen Cassava team in Ithaca, USA. BTI is an independent research institute, which uses plant sciences to improve agriculture and has been involved in the AfricaYam project from inception. They created a database called YamBase that…

Mozambique farmers enjoy greater yields as a result of IITA’s research

IITA’s research in Mozambique has made much impact in rural and national development by ensuring that the agricultural sector is competitive, sustainable, gender-balanced, and resilient to the stress and impacts of climate change. IITA Seed System Agronomist, Canon Engoke, outlined the details at IITA-Nampula during a seminar titled “Agricultural technologies demanded for change in Mozambique” on…