IITA News

IITA paper on genome editing among most read Open Access journal

A paper by an IITA Principal Scientist, Leena Tripathi, on ‘CRISPR/Cas9 editing of endogenous banana streak virus in the B genome of Musa spp. overcomes a major challenge in banana breeding’ was the second most downloaded paper in Communications Biology, an open access (OA) journal. The paper has had more than 12,000 downloads to date,…

Joint agribusiness park activities commence in Oyo State, Nigeria

IITA and Oyo State have commenced activities on an agribusiness center in Awe, Oyo Town. On 7 October, the project’s Joint Committees’ meeting agreed to change the center name from Rural Community Development Center (RCDC) to IITA-Oyo State Agribusiness Park Center, Awe. Earlier, IITA’s Facilities Management Services (FMS) commenced construction work at the processing center,…

The Belgian Ambassador to Uganda commends IITA’s efforts to transform the agriculture sector

Belgian Ambassador commends IITA’s efforts to transform Ugandan agriculture sector

His Excellency Rudi Veestraeten, the Belgian Ambassador to Uganda, visited the IITA-Uganda substation at Sendusu on 30 October. The Ambassador was accompanied by the Deputy Head of Mission and Head of Belgian Development Cooperation, Mr Koen Van Acoleyen. The visit was on the invitation of Rony Swennen, IITA’s senior banana breeder. The Ambassador and his…

IITA conducts farmers’ Green Field Day in northeast Nigeria

IITA, through the Feed the Future Integrated Agriculture Activity funded by USAID, is contributing to the economic recovery in northeast Nigeria in the wake of the devastation caused by the ongoing insurgency in the region. The Activity supports vulnerable populations disenfranchised by the conflict and reengages them in basic farming activities. To this end, 62,666…

Stakeholders meet virtually to discuss shared plans for One Health Challenge

The CGIAR Two Degree Initiative for Food and Agriculture recently organized an online stakeholder consultation to articulate a shared vision, outcomes, and outputs around the One-Health collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach. The approach aims to work at the local, regional, national, and global levels to achieve optimal health outcomes while recognizing the interconnection between people,…

Adoption of mobile phones can provide youth with agriculture market access

Agriculture has been categorized as the largest economic sector in most African countries, offering opportunities for poverty alleviation for youth, yet there is still a low percentage of youth involvement in the sector. This has been attributed to several factors. One major reason for poor youth participation in agriculture, according to research carried out in…

PIDMA delivers technologies to farmers’ organizations for sustainable cassava and maize production in Cameroon

The IITA Cassava and Maize Breeding Units in Nigeria have developed multiple cassava and maize genotypes with improved yields, starch content, resistance/tolerance to major pests and diseases, and other characteristics that will satisfy industry requirements, such as improved nutritional content (e.g., higher provitamin A content). The deployment of these newly developed varieties into Cameroon required…

RUNRES project to avail animal feed for farmers in Rwanda

The Rural-Urban Nexus, establishing a nutrient loop to improve city-region food system resilience (RUNRES), project team presented the three project-funded innovation plans to Mayor Thadee Tuyizere of Kamonyi District. The innovation plans will help manage and process urban organic waste in the district, where the project is being implemented, to produce important animal feed and…

IITA trains partners on ODK tools for surveillance of new banana disease threat, Fusarium wilt (Foc TR4)

IITA recently conducted a two-day training for national partners from the agriculture plant health services and plant protection departments in Tanzania and Vietnam. The workshop focused on using the Open Data Kit (ODK) tool to facilitate real-time surveillance of invasive pests and diseases in the banana cropping system, including the recent soil-borne fungal disease threat,…

Rural female farmers contributing more to Cameroon’s local economy—IITA-CARE study

According to a 2014 International Labour Office (ILO) study, about half a million young women and a quarter of a million young men can grow food, make goods, and provide services to others in Cameroon. However, several challenges impede the impact of their activities. The study shows that these factors comprise unemployment, poverty, and underemployment,…