IITA News

Picture of Women farmers benefit from legume production and technologies.

Legumes change fortunes of farmers and empower women in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania

While it is the number one cash crop for most farmers in Tanzania, maize is getting a serious run for its money from legumes such as beans, groundnut, and soybean which are becoming commercial crops in the cool and hilly terrain of the Southern Highlands. In addition, legumes are also good for tackling malnutrition and…

Project helps farmers gain access to markets and agroinputs, and women get into business

In northern Nigeria, a project is helping legume farmers gain access to markets and a more sustained supply of agroinputs. The Putting Nitrogen Fixation to Work for Smallholder Farmers in Africa (N2Africa) Project is providing these farmers and value chain actors with technologies and options that they can use to improve productivity and ensure the…

Picture of Baijukya giving a briefing on the long-term trials

What are the long-term effects of fertilizers and inoculants? N2Africa project tries to find out

“We are asking farmers to use inoculants and fertilizers while growing their soybean. We know some of the applied nutrients such as P and K remain in the soil as not all is taken up by the crop. We also ask farmers to rotate soybean and other crops such as maize and they also use…

Picture of Borno youth undergo training.

Borno State Youth Agripreneurs get start-up grant

Following the workshops organized by the IITA Youth Agripreneurs for 40 youth in Borno State in September 2014 and 2015, N2Africa has approved grants for the trained Agripreneurs to kick-start their agribusiness enterprises. After selecting 20 potential agribusinesses from the identified crops, the youth chose the following: production and marketing for soybean, cowpea, and groundnut;…

Picture of IITA’s Alfred Dixon (in hat) briefing the CATAS delegation from China.

China seeks to deepen relations with Africa in agricultural development

China has stepped up efforts to deepen collaboration with Africa in the area of agricultural development with the exploration of cooperation with IITA. China’s Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), the agency that is promoting the collaboration with IITA, sees the partnership as a win-win situation for both China and Africa, as the latter seeks…

Picture of David Chikoye (right) briefing Chiji Ojukwu (AfDB) as they walk around the SARAH campus.

AfDB delegation visits new IITA-Zambia research facility

On 11 March, a delegation from the African Development Bank (AfDB) led by Dr Chiji Ojukwu, Director of Agriculture and Agro-Industry, conducted a site visit to IITA-Zambia’s new regional hub office and research facility at its Southern Africa Research and Administration Hub (SARAH) campus in Kabangwe, Chongwe District in Lusaka Province, some 15 km north…

Cassava commercialization project launched in Malawi

In its unceasing efforts to support Malawi to improve rural livelihoods IITA launched a new cassava project “Promoting cassava commercialization for increased income, employment and food security in Malawi” on 8 March in Lilongwe. The project, which is funded by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ)-Malawi, focuses on (1) Facilitating the development of strong…

Picture of Youth Agripreneurs training fellow youths

IITA and Ekimiks organize agribusiness training for youths

IITA in collaboration with Ekimiks Nigeria Limited and L.A. Consult are organizing a 5-day agribusiness training for youth in Nigeria and other African countries under the framework of the IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA). The training is a follow-up to the first phase of training on Agripreneurial and Business Management organized by Ekimiks Nigeria Limited for…

Picture of Chris Akem flanked by Commodity Specialists Sidi Sanyang and Solomon Assefa.

SARD-SC PMU retreat held amid applause for laudable achievements

The SARD-SC Project Management unit held the 2016 annual retreat recently in Abuja, with staff of all the implementing centers―ICARDA, AfricaRice, IITA, and IFPRI―in attendance. The retreat assessed what was done in the previous year and planned ahead for the new year. Project Coordinator Chrys Akem said the meeting was a critical one because the…

IITA-Bukavu and Kinshasa stations host premier web2fordev training workshop

IITA-Central Africa Hub in partnership with the Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has successfully organized its first training on Web2forDev and social media in DR Congo. The training was held at Kalambo on 22–26 February and in Kinshasa on 29 February–4 March. The beneficiaries consisted of 52 participants comprising staff from policymaking…