IITA News

Picture of Biomass Web group visit IITA facilities, including cassava processing center, BIP, Agripreneurs; and ILRI outstation.

BiomassWeb project group visit IITA

Over 50 members of the BiomassWeb Project including scientists, postdoctoral, doctoral, and master’s degree students from various institutions in five countries―Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria―visited IITA-Ibadan for an excursion on 26 February. The BiomassWeb Project aims to contribute to food security in sub-Sahara Africa by focusing on biomass-based value webs and innovation in the…

Picture of SARD-SC Maize Commodity Specialist Sam Ajala (leftmost) and Steve Kiingi during the launch.

SARD-SC Maize component supports the launch of the Ghana Maize Association

Maize is the most important cereal grain in terms of total production and utilization in Ghana, with the bulk of production being used for human consumption. The average yield is about 1.7 t/ha, which is comparatively lower than what is produced in other countries. Partners working in the maize value chain came together to form…

Nigerian Minister commends SARD-SC wheat achievements; pledges to triple wheat areas to 300,000 hectares by 2017

The SARD-SC Wheat project organized a national field day with local partners and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture on 12 March at Alkamawa, Kano State. The Federal Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Honorable Audu Ogbeh was the main guest of honor. The other guests of honor were His Excellency Governor of Kano State Hon…

Picture of Layi Olatunji speaks on behalf of BIP at the agribusiness workshop.

IITA BIP guests at Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Workshop

The Business Incubation Platform (BIP) of IITA was invited to speak at the “Do it Afraid” Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Workshop on 6 March in Lagos. The workshop had as its theme “Agribusiness: The Next Frontier”.It was convened by Omilola Oshikoya, Africa’s premier wealth coach. BIP was represented by Support Manager Layi Olatunji, who spoke on the…

Picture of “It is indeed a great honor to be chosen as the 2016 African Young Grain Legume Scientist. It is my sincere hope that I could inspire other youths to go into agricultural research,” said Ndeve in his acceptance speech.

Mozambican named Young African Grain Legume Scientist 2016

IITA has named Mozambican Arsenio Ndeve as Africa’s Grain Legume Scientist 2016. The 35-year old beat entries from Burkina Faso, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, and Malawi. Apart from a plaque of recognition, Ndeve also received an Apple IPad during the awarding ceremonies held at the Gala Dinner of the Joint Pan-African Grain Legume and World Cowpea…

IITA confers achievement awards to three cowpea researchers

At the Joint Pan-African Grain Legume and Cowpea Conference, IITA conferred “Lifetime Achievement Awards” to three researchers in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the development of grain legume and cowpea research. The scientists are Drs Issa Drabo of Burkina Faso, Irvin Widders of Michigan State University – Feed the Future Legume Innovation Lab, and…

Picture of The “black and blue” conference crew with Dr Chikoye with an all thumbs-up for a successful conference at the close of the event on 4 March.

Teamwork key to success

Asked about the vital ingredient to the success of the conference, David Chikoye, IITA Regional Director for Southern Africa, simply stated: “teamwork”. “The (conference) journey began exactly 12 months ago when we started planning for hosting the World Cowpea Conference. Along the way, we changed the initial plans when IITA agreed to join hands with…

Call for sustainable and diversified production

In an interview, IITA Deputy Director General for Research for Development, Ylva Hillbur, reiterated that drought tolerant crops would be extremely important in countries facing the effects of climate change like Zambia. “You also need to diversify and have different varieties of cash crops such as legumes, cowpeas and integrate cassava. We need to move…

Picture of Minister Lubinda (middle) touring the poster stands while being briefed by Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) Director Moses Mwale (right) as IITA Southern Africa Director Dr David Chikoye (left) walks alongside.

Put hoes in museums; place ICT, women, and youths in forefront

Lubinda has also urged African countries to put the hand hoe in museums and promote a mechanized and smart agriculture because he said “the hoe had outlived its usefulness in agriculture.” He added that this is especially true in the context of climate change in which production efficiency is of paramount importance. He noted that…

Picture of the Joint Pan-African Grain Legume and World Cowpea Conference was officially closed by Julius Shawa, Permanent Secretary of Zambia’s Ministry of Agriculture.

An impressive collection of agricultural geniuses

In his remarks keynoting the opening the conference, Zambia Minister of Agriculture Honorable Given Lubinda called the delegates attending the conference “an impressive collection of agricultural geniuses”. “On behalf of the Government of Zambia, I would like to thank the organizers for choosing Zambia as the host of this Joint Pan-African Grain Legume and World…