IITA News

Picture of DG Nteranya Sanginga visits the joint Senate and House Committees on Agriculture in the National Assembly, Abuja.

IITA DG presents to Senate and House Committees on Agriculture, Nigeria

In an historic milestone, Director General Nteranya Sanginga on 9 March, made a presentation before the joint sitting of the Senate Committee and House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, House of Assembly, Abuja. For the first time in its almost 50 years of existence, IITA was invited by the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural…

Picture of YIIFSWA Technical Advisory Committee

YIIFSWA Technical Advisory Committee holds meeting

The YIIFSWA Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) also met on 19 February after the review and planning workshop, to discuss the progress made and advise YIIFSWA project team on project directions. Present at the meeting were Alexandre Dansi, Hiroko Takagi-Watanabe, Janice Olawoye, Tony Sikpa, Cephas Dormediameo, Lydia Susu, Regina Sagoe, Tola Adepomola, A.O. Salako, Lauren Good,…

Picture of Yam tuber produced from a one-node vine from the Aeroponics

YIIFSWA holds annual progress review and work planning

The Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa (YIIFSWA) project held its 5th annual progress review and planning meeting, 15-18 February at the Conference Center, IITA-Ibadan, Nigeria. The 4-day meeting highlighted the progress review of the project’s two main components (1) Governance, Leadership and Partnership; and (2) Seed Systems. Each implementing partner…

Picture of CNL General Manager Deji Haastrup with IITA Youth Agripreneurs.

Youth Agricultural Program launched in Delta State

On 11 February, Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), operator of the joint venture (JV) between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and CNL, launched a youth-in-agriculture (Agripreneur) program, aimed at providing training opportunities for young men and women to venture into agribusiness. CNL launched the Agripreneur program in collaboration with IITA, the Itsekiri Regional Development Committee…

CMS Project holds Review and Planning Workshop; hosts Gates Foundation Senior Program officer

The Cassava Monitoring Survey (CMS) in Nigeria held its Annual Review and Planning Workshop on 5 February. The workshop drew participants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike, and IITA. Victor Manyong, IITA Director for Eastern Africa and leader of the social science research group, during the opening…

Picture of Syngenta participants during the training session

Syngenta conducts training on vegetable production in West Africa

Partners in the IITA-Syngenta project have concluded a five-day training organized to improve and encourage the production of vegetables in West Africa. The training, held at IITA on 22-26 February, focused on different issues on vegetable production, including constraints to production in Nigeria, and best management practices. The training aimed for participants to have a…

Picture of DRC site integration workshop participants

CGIAR site integration workshop held in DRC

Another national consultation workshop for the integration of CGIAR centers organized by IITA took place in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on 19 February. The event, the third to be hosted by IITA for the CGIAR Consortium, brought together more than 60 public-private partners from the country and civil society. CGIAR Research Program (CRP)…

Picture of African farmers in the digital age story on Foreignaffairs.com

Online anthology “African farmers in the digital age” launched

A special edition anthology, published in partnership with Foreign Affairs, brings together the views of 20 leading thinkers on all aspects of food systems, smallholder farming, and the transformative opportunity presented by digital technology. An infographic explaining this process is available here. Co-curators Kofi Annan, Sir Gordon Conway, and Sam Dryden assert that “The combination…

SARD-SC rice component launches GEM parboiler facility for women processors

Grain quality enhancer, energy efficient and durable material (GEM) rice parboiling technologies were recently installed for women rice processors in the irrigated rice ecology of northern Benin Republic. The rice component of the Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops in Africa (SARD-SC) project in collaboration with AfricaRice and the National Institute of…

Picture of USAID delegation visiting the aflasafe and BIP facilities in Ibadan, Nigeria with IITA staff.

USAID delegation visits Aflasafe project at IITA-Ibadan

A delegation of three from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), IITA’s foremost donor and co-funding agency of the AgResults Aflasafe pilot project, recently concluded a field visit to IITA-Ibadan to better understand the Project and the planned Africa-wide commercialization of Aflasafe™. The one-day visit, which took place on 4 February, comprised a briefing…