IITA News

AU-IAPSC Director visits IITA-Abuja ahead of International Plant Health Conference

As part of preparations for the forthcoming International Plant Health Conference to be held in Nigeria 21-25 October 2019, the Director of the Africa Union-Inter Africa Phytosanitary Council (AU-IAPSC), Dr Jean Gérard Mezui M’ella, paid a courtesy visit to IITA Abuja Station on 16 May. His visit aimed to ascertain the level of IITA’s preparedness…

IITA wins top exhibitor award with research innovations and technologies at TARI-Kibaha farmers’ day

IITA’s innovative technologies that address challenges facing smallholder farmers in Tanzania impressed participants at a Farmers’ Day organized by the Tanzania Agriculture Research Institute (TARI)-Kibaha on 31 May. IITA participated at the event, showcasing some of its research innovations and technologies, and came in as the top exhibitor and the second in financially supporting the…

Biodiversity focus: IITA-Ibadan Campus is a hotspot for bird conservation

By supporting about 270 different species of birds, the 1000-ha IITA Campus in Ibadan remains one of Nigeria’s hotspots for bird conservation. The campus is blessed with different kinds of habitats, including forest, wetland, farmland, and residential areas. “This huge diversity of birds is attributable to the different kinds of habitats found within the campus,”…

IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga meets DRC President in Kinshasa this week

DG Nteranya Sanginga meets DRC President this week

IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga met with His Excellency Felix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this week in Kinshasa, the capital of DRC. Dr Sanginga was part of the delegation led by President Akinwumi Adesina, President, Africa Development Bank (AfDB) that went to DRC for a four-day official visit. Sanginga used the…

Scientists unravel genome and diversity of whitefly vector behind viral diseases devastating cassava in Africa

As part of efforts to control the spread of the two viral diseases attacking cassava in Africa, cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak disease (CBSD)—scientists have announced a breakthrough whole genome sequencing of Bemisia tabaci, the African whitefly that is spreading the diseases. Read more

Another PhD for the Breeding Better Banana project as Michael Batte successfully defends his thesis

Michael Batte successfully defended his PhD thesis titled Increasing efficiency of the breeding pipeline for East African highland bananas on 4 June at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) Alnarp campus. His studies were sponsored by the Breeding Better Banana project that is led by IITA as part of its capacity building program. This…

ACDI/VOCA Country Representative for Nigeria visits IITA

The Nigeria Country Representative of ACDI/VOCA, Olaf Kula, visited IITA-Ibadan on 24 May. The visit aimed at establishing a partnership between ACDI/VOCA and IITA. Kula, who is also a Senior Agribusiness Adviser to this Agricultural Development NGO, visited the Institute to get a better understanding of IITA activities and explore the possibility of partnering with…

ACAI capacity building for partners: Nigeria and Tanzania NARS training on data management

The African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) has started a series of data management training for staff members from the national agricultural research system (NARS), in the project target countries. The NARS staff from Nigeria and Tanzania are being trained on data collection using the ODK suite tool, data analysis in R, and geospatial information system…

Travel advisory: Tanzania bans single-use plastic bags

The Government of Tanzania has announced a strict ban on plastic bags in the country. The ban, which came into effect on 1 June, prohibits the manufacture, importation, and use of all single-use plastic bags including shopping and garbage bags. Offenders could face heavy penalties including fines and possible jail term. In an Institute-wide email,…

CBSD-DRC project trains extension agents in communication and sensitization about cassava brown streak disease

The IITA project to combat Cassava brown streak disease in DR Congo (CBSD-DRC) organized a training workshop for the National Extension Service [in French: Service National de Vulgarisation (SNV)] on Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD), 28-29 May. The training focused on communication and sensitization about CBSD and the collaboration between SNV and IITA. SNV is…