IITA News

“Breeding Better Bananas” project excels in developing new ‘Matooke’ hybrids

In October 2019, the “Breeding Better Bananas” project transitioned into Phase II—“Accelerated Breeding Better Bananas”—to further streamline the conventional breeding of banana in East Africa. This project brings together an international spectrum of partners to transform the national banana breeding programs in Uganda and Tanzania. This improved banana breeding pipeline has produced more than 231…

Project launched to enhance adoption of Conservation Agriculture in Southern Africa

A new project that aims to investigate the drivers and barriers to adoption of Conservation Agriculture (CA) in Southern Africa and to develop strategies for achieving adoption and impact at scale was recently launched virtually by CA stakeholders in the region. CA, a farming system that promotes minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and diversification…

Teamwork delivers results in addressing cassava virus diseases!

“If you want to go quickly, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.” The meaning of this African proverb is well manifested by the Virus Vector Ecology Group (VVEG) team at IITA’s Eastern Africa Hub as James Legg, IITA Plant Health Scientist and team lead, shared on its progress and successes towards…

Scaling readiness: An approach to enhance R4D impact

Research to improve society can go to waste if these interventions are not made available to the beneficiaries. Murat Sartas, Marc Schut, Claudio Prioietti, Graham Thiele, and Cees Leeuwi—in a published journal paper titled Scaling readiness: Science and practice of an approach to enhance impact of research for development—charged researchers who aim to implement R4D…

Genome editing is the future of plant breeding

“Genome editing is the future of plant breeding in terms of being more efficient and getting more genetic gains,” said Kingstone Mashingaidze, one of the speakers at the recently held CGIAR webinar on genome editing. CGIAR centers using genome editing recently started a webinar series that will investigate the practice, benefits, social acceptance, and regulation…

IITA and partners rename improved cassava varieties for the international market

The Federal Government of Nigeria recently approved new names for 10 improved cassava varieties as part of efforts to brand the root crop for easy identification, cultivation, and marketing of cassava stems. The renamed varieties comprise six released varieties and four yet-to be-released varieties. The released varieties and their new names are IBA961632 (Farmer’s Pride),…

Charismatic root and tuber champion passes on

Professor Felix Nweke, whose work on cassava and other tropical root and tuber crop like yam left a lasting impact on agricultural value chains in multiple African countries, passed away last month, August, in the US. A forerunner of value chain research and transformation in Africa, former IITA senior economist, and Michigan State University professor,…

Vice-Chancellor of Uni of Abuja visits IITA Abuja Station

A 5-member delegation from the University of Abuja led by the Vice-Chancellor Professor Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah visited IITA Abuja Station on 14 September. The objective of the visit was to explore the possibility of reviving a 2009 MoU between the University and IITA. Head of IITA-Abuja, Gbassey Tarawali, and the IITA Yam Seed Systems Specialist and former University of Abuja…

IITA and Ministry of Agriculture, DRC consolidate cooperation

The Ministry of Agriculture of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has signed an enhanced cooperation agreement with IITA regarding the development of DRC’s agricultural sector for the next 5 years. The signing ceremony took place on 9 September in the capital city, Kinshasa. IITA Country Representative in DR Congo, Zoumana Bamba said the agreement…

Degradable waste: Soon to become an asset in Oyo State

IITA is looking at how to produce biogas from degradable waste. In line with this, DG Nteranya Sanginga called for a 3-day seminar for the youth biogas team on proposal writing, work plan drafting, and business plan writing. The seminar, which took place 16-18 September aimed to equip the team with the necessary skills for…