BIP Archives - IITA News

IITA Business Incubation Platform appoints first Advisory Board

The IITA Business Incubation Platform (BIP) has announced the appointment of its inaugural Advisory Board, which held its first board meeting last June. CEO of Enviro Gro Farms, Mrs Nkiru Opareke, will serve as Chair of the Board, which will provide leadership and overall guidance to increase organizational growth and impact. The appointed board members…

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-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…

APPEALS project team from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture seeks to partner with IITA

A team from the Agro-processing Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) National Coordinating Office (NCO) and Lagos Project Office, visited IITA, Ibadan on 28 August. The purpose of the visit was to explore possible areas of collaboration with IITA. Heather Akanni, the National Women and Youth Livelihood Specialist of APPEALS, who led the team…

Dutch Trade Mission visits IITA

A trade mission delegation from the Netherlands visited IITA on 11 July to discuss critical success factors for agricultural growth. The delegation was led by Loek Hermans, Chairman of Top Sector, Horticulture and Materials, and received by Frederick Schreurs, Chief Executive Officer, IITA Business Incubation Platform. At the opening meeting, Sylvia Oyinlola, Head of Administration,…

Fredrick Schreurs giving a presentation at the meeting.

IITA BIP management outlines future path for the unit

Management staff of the IITA Business Incubation Platform (BIP) held a meeting on 20 March at the IITA headquarters in Ibadan. The meeting themed, “When Science meets Business,” was organized to discuss ways to develop a scouting system in which marketable IITA products and services will be promoted through the BIP. IITA BIP takes innovations…

French delegation explores agribusiness collaboration with IITA Abuja

IITA, the French Embassy in Nigeria, and the French Agriculture Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) held a meeting on 27 March at the IITA Abuja Station to strengthen existing partnerships among the three organizations. Read more

USAID Mission Director to Nigeria visits IITA

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director to Nigeria, Stephen Haykin, paid a visit to IITA headquarters on 23 March, to discuss existing partnerships between USAID and IITA. Haykin was received by senior IITA management including Kenton Dashiell, Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery (DDG-P4D) and Hilde Koper-Limbourg, Deputy Director General, Corporate Services…

Picture of IITA representatives at the 17th annual congress of the AFSTA in Senegal.

‘GoSeed’ to join the African Seed Trade Association

Africa still remains a minor player in the global seed trade, accounting for less than 2%. In recognition of the important role quality seeds could play in feeding Africa’s teeming population statistically projected to exceed 2 billion by 2050, GoSeed—the arm of IITA’s Business Incubation Platform (BIP) responsible for the production, marketing, distribution, and sale of quality certified seeds to farmers―has registered its interest in becoming a member of the African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA).

Picture of Layi Olatunji speaks on behalf of BIP at the agribusiness workshop.

IITA BIP guests at Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Workshop

The Business Incubation Platform (BIP) of IITA was invited to speak at the “Do it Afraid” Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Workshop on 6 March in Lagos. The workshop had as its theme “Agribusiness: The Next Frontier”.It was convened by Omilola Oshikoya, Africa’s premier wealth coach. BIP was represented by Support Manager Layi Olatunji, who spoke on the…