FAO Archives | IITA News

FAO to partner with IITA in reducing world hunger and malnutrition

The new representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Nigeria and his team recently visited IITA headquarters to strengthen the partnership between FAO and IITA by exploring IITA technologies and discover more areas of collaboration. Smallholder farmers are faced continually with the impacts of climate change. FAO seeks to collaborate with other institutes…

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…

IYA celebrates success in its youth empowerment programs for 2019

Since its inception in 2012, the IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA) has been working tirelessly, creating capacity development programs and projects to engage youth in agribusiness. Although IYA has experienced challenges in accessing funds and credit facilities to assist some of the trained youth in establishing and expanding their agribusinesses, about 7,000 youth have benefited from…

IITA Youth Agripreneurs program wins international award for youth empowerment innovations

In recognition of its commitment to improving both agribusiness opportunities and creditworthiness of youth across Africa, the IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA) program has been awarded the 2019 International Innovation Award for Sustainable Food and Agriculture. The award, the first of its kind, is funded by the Government of Switzerland and was presented, in conjuction with…

Biocontrol solutions to “Fusarium wilt of banana” emerge

The banana crop and industry has experienced extreme losses due to an epidemic of Fusarium wilt of banana (FWB), caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense (Foc). This was described in the recently published article “Biological control agents against Fusarium wilt of banana.” FWB, also known as Panama disease, has plagued countries in Africa, Asia, and Australia. The disease…

Empowering regional and district level planners to address climate change threats to agriculture

Climate change is ranked among of the top threats to global food security given impacts such as erratic and extreme weather conditions including floods and droughts. Crop yields are expected to decline globally after 2030 and by 2050, 3% of Africa’s land will no longer be suitable for maize. In Tanzania, climate change is a…