IITA News

Partners of CSA capacity building project deliberate on sustainability and scaling up

The Building Capacity for Resilient Food Security project met with partners in preparation for its fourth and last year. The meeting’s objective was to share updates and deliberate on final-year activities and how best to ensure the sustainability of project outputs. The project meeting, which took place at the IITA Eastern Africa Hub in Dar…

IITA trains Northeast Nigerian women in grains and cereals micro-processing

Through the Feed-the-Future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity, IITA trained 1,274 women on micro-processing of grains and cereals across Adamawa and Borno states in Northeast Nigeria. The capacity building exercise focused on the production of nutritious complementary foods for infants and young children. The training, which took place in November 2020, selected participants from registered households…

Managing Xanthomonas Wilt of Banana (BXW) using Single Diseased Stem Removal (SDSR) technique

Xanthomonas wilt has been affecting banana fields in Rwanda since 2005. Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resource Development Board (RAB), and IITA introduced the Single Diseased Stem Removal technique, considered as the best approach to fight the disease in Rwanda. Watch new video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4mGpm00vD0) about the SDSR technique on IITA’s…

Norwegian Ambassador Vegar Brynildsen and the Mayor of Mafeya looking at different varieties produced by Farmers through the CSAT project in the region of Koulikoro.

IITA-CSAT scaling activity flourishes; welcomes Norwegian Ambassador to Mali

The IITA-Climate Smart Agricultural Technologies (CSAT) project continues to advance with activities in Mali and Niger. CSAT Mali and CSAT Niger are working to scale climate-smart technologies in Sahelian regions and provide farmers with options for better adaptation to climate change. Also, the project is funding research to develop additional opportunities for better adaptation in increased…

Grace Kamanga from the Department of Agriculture Services (carrying leaves) and casual workers mixing chopped cassava foliage and roots. Photo credit: Judith Chikoti (DARS)

Cassava silage increasing milk production while saving on feed costs

Natural pastures and crop residues are used as livestock feed in the dry season for dairy animals. However, dairy production in Malawi is constrained by energy and protein deficiencies due to a high dependency on these natural pastures. Researchers have identified using cassava leaves to make silage or hay as an excellent strategy to supplement…

Lourindo Jacinto Abel, the DG farm manager at the soybean farm.

The Dreamers: Scaling seeds of success

Members of the Dreamers Group in Zambezia province, Northern Mozambique, were smiling all the way to the bank in the just ended farming season, 2019/2020. This year they generated more than 2,277,000 MZN (US$31,625) from the production and sale of soybean and common bean seed and grain and vegetables. The group, known as DG or…

Researcher and IITA-CARE awardee, Adedotun Seyingbo.

Researcher calls for intervention to promote youth engagement in agriculture

The growing population in Africa poses both opportunities and challenges for its economy. In Nigeria, more than half the population are under 30 years of age, posing a significant challenge for policymakers in providing quality jobs for these youth. However, since agriculture is a major source of employment and livelihood, youth move between farm and…

Scientists reveal the hybrid origin of the white Guinea yam

An international team of scientists has revealed the origin of the most popular food staple in Africa, the white Guinea yam. Yam is a major staple widely consumed in West Africa. This starchy tuber is an important food crop that contributes to the sustenance and sociocultural lives of over 300 million people in the region….

IITA head named a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences

Dr Nteranya Sanginga, the Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), has been elected as a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) for the advancement of science in developing countries, effective 1 January 2021. The election, which was made known through a formal announcement, is a clear recognition of Dr…

Study lifts the lid on plantain consumer preferences, adds fresh insights for breeding programs

Une étude met en lumière les préférences des consommateurs de plantain et ouvre de nouvelles perspectives pour les programmes de sélection

Au fil des ans, les sélectionneurs ont développé et distribué des variétés de plantain à haut rendement et résistantes aux maladies, mais les taux d’adoption sont restés limités. Pour comprendre pourquoi, les chercheurs de l’IITA, un des centres du CGIAR ont publié les résultats d’une nouvelle étude révélant les attentes des utilisateurs finaux (consommateurs) concernant…