IITA News

Coronavirus Update page launched on Intranet

The IITA COVID-19 Task Force announces the launch of a new information resource on coronavirus on the IITA Intranet page: https://cgiar.sharepoint.com/sites/IITA/coronaupdates. The page includes links to official memos from the DDG-Corporate Services, updates from the Medical Clinic and HR, basic information about coronavirus and COVID-19, symptoms of the disease, how the infection is spread and…

IITA scientist wins international award

Alejandro Ortega-Beltran, a research scientist with IITA, has won the William Boright Hewitt and Maybelle Ellen Ball Hewitt Award for 2020. He will receive the award in August from the American Phytopathological Society (APS). This award recognizes a scientist, who within seven years of having received their PhD, makes an outstanding, innovative contribution to plant…

IITA BIP team sets new production per hectare record for yam farmers in Nigeria

The Business Incubation Platform (BIP) of IITA has set a new record of 23 t/ha for yam production in Nigeria. This record, which was achieved through a controlled trial, has been set to guide farmers in achieving increased yields from their yam farms. Yam is the common name for plant species of the genus Dioscorea…

IITA celebrates all women on International Women’s Day

On 9 March, IITA celebrated the International Women’s Day (IWD) 2020, at the Institute’s headquarters. The theme for this year’s observance was “Generation Equality: Realizing equal rights for an equal future.” IWD is a day globally recognized to celebrate the achievements of women in various fields such as social, economic, cultural and political as well as…

NIHORT evaluates IITA plantain hybrids for possible distribution to farmers

Following a call for stronger collaboration and partnership, the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) has embarked on the evaluation of hybrid plantain and banana germplasm from IITA and its partners, for possible distribution to farmers. IITA Regional Breeding Manager for plantain/banana improvement in West and Central Africa, Delphine Amah, during an earlier visit to NIHORT,…

US Consul General visits IITA for collaboration on advocacy matters

On 11 March, the US Consul General, Ms Claire Pierangelo and her team visited IITA Ibadan campus. The purpose of the visit was for the Consul General to understand the activities of IITA and help in areas of advocacy and partnership with international organizations. After giving the team a warm welcome, Kwame Akuffo-Akoto, Acting Director-General…

OPINION: Africa’s devastating locust outbreak exposes need for crop science on all fronts

A perfect storm of conditions led to the locust attack currently tearing through East Africa and Pakistan, where countries are deploying pesticides, military personnel and even ducks. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has given the ultimatum of March to bring Africa’s desert locust outbreak under control, calling for US$76 million to fund insecticide spraying. Read more

IITA-BIP sets record for maize production per hectare in Nigeria

The Business Incubation Platform (BIP) of IITA has set a new production record for maize in Nigeria. BIP exceeded the previous record through its Youth Out-growers team in an outgrowers program with Nestlé, Nigeria. Maize is one of Africa’s dominant food crops, rich in vitamins A, C, and E, carbohydrates, and essential minerals as well…

IITA and Bells University of Technology sign MoU to establish Agricultural Centre, Incubation Hub in Ota

IITA and Bells University of Technology (BUT), Ota, Ogun State, have signed an agreement to join forces on various aspects of agripreneurship development. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed last week in Ota, will see IITA and BUT collaborate on the establishment of an Incubation Hub in Ota to train youth in Agripreneurship. The two…

IFAD-CARE sponsored study focuses on Agribusiness to tackle unemployment in rural Africa

Policymakers in Africa have been called upon to adopt sustainable ways to address the rate of employment among youth across the continent. In a study carried out by Esther Lombe Kwaambwa, under the IFAD-sponsored CARE project being implemented by IITA, youth unemployment, currently estimated at 23%, is projected to double with Africa’s youth population expected…