IITA News

IITA/icipe supervised PhD student celebrated among future women leaders in agriculture by UN-ECA

As the world marks International Women’s Day, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) celebrates young African women conducting research primarily in agriculture and who have made notable achievements in the field. ECA interviewed and publicized these women’s research journeys to inspire the continent and the world to do more to harness this powerful…

Women and youth trained on farm mechanization in northeast Nigeria

As part of efforts to empower women and youth, the USAID-funded Feed-the-Future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity organized training sessions for 252 beneficiaries in four Local Government Areas in the northeastern states of Adamawa and Borno. The three-week training, which took place in February, focused on farm machinery operations, mechanics, and fabrication. These capacity-building and skill-acquisition…

Agriculture PS identifies priority collaboration areas with IITA to improve Tanzanian agriculture

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Gerald Kusaya, has said the Government of Tanzania is keen to strengthen collaboration with IITA in its ongoing efforts to develop the country’s agriculture sector. Kusaya was speaking to a delegation from IITA that had paid him a courtesy visit on 22 February at his offices…

IITA promotes a gender-balanced environment

IITA has always maintained a policy of zero tolerance for discrimination. As usual, IITA joined the rest of the world to celebrate Zero Discrimination Day on 1 March by organizing a virtual seminar themed “End Inequality,” The purpose was to create awareness on the concept of discrimination and how to guard against it in the…

Researchers call for gender-friendly crop varieties to aid food security

Researchers call for gender-inclusive crop varieties to aid food security

The global population is rapidly increasing and there is need for increase in global food production to meet the needs of the growing population. Although maize is one of the most important and widely cultivated staple crop in Sub-Saharan Africa, yields have been significantly low in many countries. However, research has shown that gender has…

Integrated Agriculture Activity conducts peace-enabling training for crop and livestock farmers in North-East Nigeria

The USAID-funded Feed-the-Future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity conducted a series of training on crop residue utilization and feed formulation for farmer and herder groups’ representatives, large-scale farmers, local livestock feed processors, livestock feed sellers, nutrition liaison officers, and extension agents in Yola (Adamawa State) between 18 and 20 February and in Biu (Borno State) between…

Crop innovation: Mitigating the impact of the climate crisis in Africa

Adopting drought-tolerant (DT) maize varieties has helped lift millions of people above Africa’s poverty line. In his recently launched book, How to avoid a climate disaster: The solutions we have and the breakthroughs we need, Bill Gates mentioned this innovation, singling out CGIAR as being “at the forefront of supporting the world to feed itself…

IITA takes the lead in agricultural transformation in DRC

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), IITA has continued to take a leading role in driving domestic agricultural transformation. Between 15 and 19 February, the Institute carried out multiple interventions to boost agriculture in the region. The Institute organized a regional capacity-building workshop on the management of aflatoxins under the auspices of the Integrated…

IITA Corps members organize seminar on alleviating hunger and poverty

The IITA National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) community recently organized a one-day seminar themed “Alleviating hunger and poverty through agriculture: Today’s youth; tomorrow’s leaders” for corps members across Nigeria. The immersive full-day event took place on 15 February and aimed to motivate and empower corps members to engage in productive research and business opportunities in…

Farm Radio wants IITA collaboration to boost farming communities

Farm Radio International, a non-profit organization using radio to help African farming communities support themselves, has indicated an interest to collaborate with IITA in Nigeria. The Farm Radio team disclosed this on 17 February, during a virtual introductory meeting between the two organizations. The Farm Radio team included the Country Program Manager, Eucharia Uranta Okonkwo,…