IITA News

IITA and Government of Benin sign Host Country Agreement

The Government of Benin through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation signed a Host Country Agreement with IITA in Benin last 17 December. The signing ceremony was presided over by the Secretary General of the Ministry, Ambassador Hervé Djikpé, who signed on behalf of the Government of Benin, and the IITA-Benin Country Representative Manuele…

Obasanjo to join forces with IITA and Bayer on disseminating innovations on weed control and others to farmers

Former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has agreed to support the dissemination of improved technologies on weed control and other agricultural innovations to farmers, as part of efforts to bring about agricultural transformation in Africa. Chief Obasanjo declared his position when he received a delegation comprising Bayer and IITA officials in Ogun State. The…

FAO recognizes IYA’s youth empowerment initiative

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has named the IITA Youth in Agribusiness (IYA) program as one of the 20 Success Stories of Agricultural Innovation from around the world. These were profiled at the first International Symposium on Agricultural Innovation for Family Farmers, which took place in Rome, Italy between 21…

Forest Center of IITA celebrates ‘First-ever’ Nigerian Bird Festival

On 6 and 7 December, the IITA Forest Center celebrated the first-ever Nigerian Bird Festival with funding support from the AG. Leventis Foundation and US Consulate General, Lagos. The event convened students, ornithologists, environmentalists and nature lovers on the IITA-Ibadan campus, to celebrate birds and highlight the need to protect them and their habitats. Over…

IITA’s mobile app to track cassava seeds now in Tanzania

Timely access to quality seed is a major challenge in the production of cassava in Tanzania. A mobile application for real-time tracking of cassava seed production developed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) for Nigeria is now available in Tanzania as part of efforts to address this challenge. The application, known Cassava SeedTracker,…

Corporate Services to keep adapting to changed circumstances — Hilde Koper-Limbourg, DDG Corporate Services

Another year gone! This year we started work on changing IITA’s culture and staff mindset to adapt to the new reality of IITA being a ‘project based institute’. Change is never easy, especially not change brought on by funding challenges, but we made a confident start to it. I appreciate the commitment and the hard…

Looking forward to a rewarding year as we increase our footprints across Africa — May-Guri Saethre, DDG, R4D

The year 2018 has been quite a successful year for IITA as it is filled with achievements! In the course of the year, our R4D team worked on ensuring that IITA take steps to increase its footprint across Africa, establishing its global brand and engaging in regional communication strategies. One of the major initiatives of…

I am optimistic that the next will be even better — Kenton Dashiell, DDG, P4D

The Partnerships for Delivery (P4D) Directorate is two years old and we have begun to make some progress with the delivery and scaling of proven technologies to end-users, during 2018. All this has been possible because of the support and high morale of staff. The directorate works in partnership with Governments, the private sector, NGOs,…

IITA will continue to stand out as a leading research institute in all areas — Nteranya Sanginga, IITA DG.

I am pleased to announce to all that 2018 came to a successful end as a result of the dedication and commitment of staff, despite the dramatic decline in central funding encountered by the institute. In the midst of it all, IITA had no option but to prepare for the future and reorganize its manner…

IITA equips scholars with policy brief and scientific writing skills

IITA organized a workshop for the 20 fellows that qualified for the research grant for “Enhancing Capacity to Apply Research Evidence (CARE) in policy for youth engagement in agribusiness and rural economic activities in Africa” funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), on 19–23 November. The purpose of the 5-day training was to…