AfricaYam Archives

Scientists reveal the hybrid origin of the white Guinea yam

An international team of scientists has revealed the origin of the most popular food staple in Africa, the white Guinea yam. Yam is a major staple widely consumed in West Africa. This starchy tuber is an important food crop that contributes to the sustenance and sociocultural lives of over 300 million people in the region….

AfricaYam project concludes product advancement and refinement meeting in Abuja

AfricaYam, a project with the main objective of enhancing yam breeding for increased productivity and improved quality in West Africa, has concluded its product advancement and refinement meeting in Abuja. The five-day meeting that took place in Grand Pela Hotel was organized for yam product profile refinement and advancement. Stakeholders at the meeting consisted of…

IITA yam breeding team visits yam processing company in Japan

The IITA yam improvement team consisting of Asrat Amele, Head of Yam Breeding, Patrick Adebola, Project Leader of AfricaYam, and Ryo Matsumoto, Yam Agronomist, visited the Maruko Foods yam processing factory in Japan together with IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga and IITA Board Member, Dr Shuichi Asanuma, on 27 August. Also in the delegation were…

AfricaYam holds activity meeting at IBRC

An AfricaYam project meeting was held with collaborators Dr Ryohei Terauchi, Lead Scientist at the Iwate Biotechnology Research Center (IBRC), and Dr Satoru Muranaka from Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS). IBRC is one of the 11 partner Institutes of the AfricaYam project led by IITA. Terauchi invited scientists from IITA, Dr Patrick…

AfricaYam visits BTI and NextGen ahead of the project’s proposed second phase

The AfricaYam Project Leader, Patrick Adebola and IITA Yam Breeder, Asrat Amele recently visited Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) and NextGen Cassava team in Ithaca, USA. BTI is an independent research institute, which uses plant sciences to improve agriculture and has been involved in the AfricaYam project from inception. They created a database called YamBase that…

Picture of Dr Kolade in the field with the ‘Leaf Doctor’ App

AfricaYam project wins ISTRC best poster award

The poster paper of the AfricaYam project on “Yam anthracnose phenotyping” was adjudged the best poster of the 18th Triennial Symposium of the International Society for Tuber and Root Crops (ISTRC) held 22–25 October at Cali, Colombia.

Picture of participants at the 4th AfricaYam project annual meeting in Abidjan

AfricaYam Project holds annual meeting in Abidjan

The AfricaYam Project held its 4th annual progress review and planning meeting, 26 February to 1 March, at Hotel Tiama in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Fifty scientists, partners, and other stakeholders from eight countries.

Picture of staff listening to presentations on IITA’s yam R4D work.

Seminar on developments in yam production in Abuja ends with a feast

The yam program at the IITA Station in Abuja organized a series of seminar presentations by scientists from the station to educate staff on the progress made in yam research over the years, as well as providing an interactive platform for information exchange.

Breeders charged to develop yam varieties responsive to tomorrow’s challenges

In early March, 50 international breeders gathered in Ibadan, Nigeria, for the AfricaYam project’s third annual progress review and planning meeting, which looked at the progress of yam research in West Africa.

Picture of Participants learn key aspects of phenotyping for yam diseases.

AfricaYam project strengthens yam breeding capacity

The AfricaYam project is hosting two weeks of training, 20 June to 1 July, at IITA, Ibadan, to effectively equip yam research personnel on techniques for phenotyping yam for disease and developing pest resistant varieties. Yam has been plagued by anthracnose, nematodes, and viruses, with a high number of these integrated in its DNA. The…