IITA News

DG Nteranya Sanginga at a virtual town hall meeting, explaining IITA’s funding shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Combating COVID-19-induced shortfalls: IITA reveals strategy to strengthen financial health and secure research goals

To manage potential funding shortfalls due to the global COVID-19 crisis, IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga has outlined options through which the Institute can strengthen ongoing research and ensure sustainable planning as well as strategic resource mobilization. After strenuous consultations with different stakeholders, including staff and donors, Sanginga communicated the decisions during a virtual town hall meeting…

IITA promotes natural solutions during International Day of Biodiversity

On 22 May, CGIAR-IITA joined the global community to mark the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB), an annual observance to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. In line with this year’s theme, “Our solutions are in Nature”, the Institute hosted a semi-virtual event to highlight the importance of biodiversity and plants to human…

Youth participation in agriculture is projected to be a big income earner

Youth under IITA-CARE tackle agricultural challenges

Despite the ongoing global crisis, grant recipients of the Enhancing Capacity to Apply Research Evidence (CARE) project funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) are working against odds and around the challenges to deliver cutting-edge agricultural solutions to achieve Africa’s goal of zero hunger. With the supervision of scientists from CGIAR-IITA, these young…

COVID-19 highlights the importance of farmers’ associations

Uganda is one of the few countries that has not reported any deaths from COVID-19. However, there are movement restrictions and stay-at-home orders in place. What do this pandemic and subsequent control measures mean for banana farmers in the country? We talked to Brigitte Uwimana, a molecular banana breeder based at IITA Uganda. Below are…

IITA scientist develops a cheaper and faster tool for identifying whiteflies

A CGIAR-IITA scientist has developed a more cost and time effective molecular diagnostic tool that can accurately identify different subgroups of cassava whiteflies, Bemisia tabaci. The tool can be used in local laboratories in Africa that often lack expensive sequencing technologies. This innovation marks a major milestone in efforts to accurately characterize whiteflies, which transmit viruses that…

Solutions in nature: promoting the efficacy of indigenous medicinal plants

Over the centuries, earth’s biological diversity has played a crucial role in the development and sustenance of our civilization. From energy to food and infrastructure to medicine, humans have relied on nature for existence. Sadly though, we have lost so much of our biodiversity through unsustainable human activities, leading to severe consequences, including challenges of…

Fighting together: IITA stations respond with innovations

With the outbreak of COVID-19, CGIAR-IITA has placed a particular focus on working with governments in sub-Saharan Africa to strengthen their food systems to combat and win against the scourge of this pandemic. Aside from this holistic response from the Institute, IITA stations in different localities have come up with various innovative solutions geared towards helping their…

IITA banana research paper in Wiley’s Plant Pathology journal among the most downloaded

A paper published by a team led by scientists from IITA was among the top 10% most downloaded of all papers published between January 2018 and December 2019 in Wiley’s Plant Pathology journal. The research team received the news in a congratulatory message and an online certificate from the Journal. Part of the message stated:…

IITA scientist among AAS and the Royal Society recipients of 2020 FLAIR fellowships

The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the Royal Society of London, supported by the UK’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), have announced the second cohort of the Future Leaders – African Independent Research (FLAIR) fellowships. Thirty outstanding early-career African scientists, whose research focuses on the needs of the continent, will receive support from the…

BoT commends IITA’s leadership in agricultural research under Sanginga

The IITA Board of Trustees (BoT) has lauded the Institute’s leadership and proven record of accomplishment in agricultural research during the spring board meeting, which took place recently. During the virtual meeting, BoT Chair Dr Amos Namanga Ngongi stated that the Institute, under the leadership of Director General Nteranya Sanginga, has achieved excellent results in…