IITA News

IITA50-LookingBack: Peppercorn used as IITA annual rental

The 1000-hectare land that the IITA campus rests on was donated by the government to the Ford and Rockefeller foundation.

Picture of agripreneur shows propagation activities for cucumber.

IITA establishes two incubation centers for IYA initiative in Imo state, Nigeria

Nteranya Sanginga, IITA Director General, goes on a 2-day site visit on 8 -9 May to inspect the progress made on the development of two new agribusiness incubation centers spearheaded by the IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA) in Imo state.

Ugandan journal says IITA’s breeding efforts to benefit no less than 15,000 farmers

Recently, the NEW VISION journal of Uganda, reported that IITA’s laudable efforts breeding banana with desirable characteristics will benefit at least 15,000 smallholder farmers in the country.

Picture of participants at the CBSD Workshop, DR Congo.

IITA hosts workshop on CBSD

The project tagged “Preventive actions against the propagation and expansion of Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) in the Democratic Republic of Congo”, has successfully organized a work plan development workshop on 20—21 April, at Mbanza-Ngungu, 150 km West of Kinshasa.

Picture of Rusanganwa in his banana farm in Rukara Sector, Kayonza District. / Jean d’Amour Mbonyinshuti.

CIALCA – boosting livelihoods in Rwanda

Last week, Rwanda’s leading English daily—the NewTimes cited IITA’s progressive research on banana as a factor helping households and farmers to meet up with their financial and nutritional needs.

Picture of DDG with the Agripreneurs showing off some of the products.

IITA Onne will drive strong research and delivery projects, says IITA DDG

During a visit to inspect the facilities and progress at the recently reopened IITA station at Onne, Rivers State on 25 May, Kenton Dashiell, IITA’s DDG, Partnerships for Delivery pledged to preserve the legacies of the late Dirk Vuylsteke, Paul R. Speijer, and John B. Hartman—IITA renowned scientists who dedicated their lives to revolutionizing banana and plantain breeding in the region.

Picture of IITA’s Abebe Menkir addressing the workshop attendees in Ibadan.

Breeding for grand challenges

As part of the 50th anniversary celebration, IITA had mounted a one-day symposium tagged as “Breeding for the Grand Challenges”. This full-house event was held on 11 April at IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria, and attended by more than 200 collaborators from the national agricultural research system, including advanced research institutions and various universities, and private sector partners working on crop improvement.

Picture of Building a strong partnership that works.

AgYouth Lab project, a rescue operation—Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

Nigeria’s VicePresident, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has tendered his support for the joint AgriFood Youth Opportunity Lab project (AgYouth Lab) of the Michigan State University (MSU) and IITA, saying that the initiative will harness employment and entrepreneurial opportunities among African Youth.

Picture of a wing of the renovated office block.

IITA Onne, back and better

After almost 10 years of dormancy, IITA in Onne—which has produced tremendous breakthroughs in breeding plantain varieties with resistance to Black Sigatoka disease and advances in Musa genetics that have won for IITA various prestigious awards among which is the CGIAR King Baudouin award, is back and better.

Picture of STMA holds annual planning meeting in IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria.

STMA empowers seed companies to produce

The Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project has identified seed companies in its target countries, (Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, and the Republic of Bénin) in 2016 and empowered them with the necessary funding support and technical capacity and capability to produce breeder and foundation seeds at scale.