food security Archives - Page 2 of 4

Dr Kwesi Attah-Krah, IITA Director of Advocacy and Country Alignment.

Agriculture stakeholders discuss possible solutions to food insecurity and trade challenges in Nigeria

On 29 September, the National Action Committee on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) held a virtual workshop on Agriculture and Agribusiness. The workshop brought together notable professionals in the agricultural sector to discuss sustainable solutions to the challenges of food security and trade in Nigeria and Africa. AfCFTA was created to expand intra-African…

BIP Youth Outgrowers’ team displaying harvested vegetables in the open field.

IITA BIP and partners host virtual Vegetable Field Day for farmers

Vegetables are one of the most consumed foods worldwide because of their high nutritional value. Although the vegetable business is profitable, vegetable farmers usually face challenges accessing quality seed, knowledge of good agronomic practices, and markets. In resolving these challenges, the IITA Business Incubation Platform (BIP), in conjunction with Rijk Zwaan and Seedforth Agro, hosted…

Researchers reveal a more sustainable approach to address postharvest fish losses

Small-scale inland capture fisheries contribute significantly toward enhancing the food, nutrition, and economic security of millions of people in low-income countries. Over time, several factors have restrained women’s participation in fishery value chains, limiting capture fisheries from achieving their full development potential. These factors have also reduced the impact that small-scale fisheries can have on…

A youth provides services to farmers in a rural setting (Photo: C. Mutungi/IITA).

Talking about food loss and food waste with Dr Christopher Mutungi, IITA Food Technology Specialist

By 2050, the world’s population is estimated to increase to 9 billion people. To feed the increasing population, agriculture production needs to more than double. While agricultural stakeholders are thinking of how to produce the needed food, the current food loss and waste along the food systems need to be curbed to secure food production….

Early adopter of YIIFSWA-promoted improved yam varieties enjoys “fantastic” yield

Beaming with pride, Chief Joshua Ojedele showed off his 2-hectare yam field cultivated from improved varieties that he got from the Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa (YIIFSWA) project. His farm was lush green with healthy foliage, promising a good harvest. All the mounds had at least one yam plant with…

IITA Agricultural Economist, Dr Shiferaw Feleke.

IITA economist: COVID-19 strengthens the need for a policy of food self-sufficiency for Africa

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security has revived the long-standing debate on the pathway to achieving food security in sub-Saharan Africa. There have been two divergent thoughts on how to accomplish this, with one side calling for Africa to become food self-sufficient and the other supporting international trade over self-sufficiency. Both approaches…

Science-based policies can unlock Africa’s access to genome-edited crop varieties

CGIAR-IITA head of plant biotechnology Leena Tripathi has made an impassioned plea for genome editing and its potential. She made the call in a recently published paper titled, CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing of banana for disease resistance. Tripathi and her Kenya-based team are using gene editing to develop disease-resistant banana varieties. “To boost the use of…

Development partners meet to address Africa’s food security amid COVID-19

In 2018, over 200 million people in Africa were undernourished due to food shortages. The advent of coronavirus has added another dimension to this issue. An examination of these problems led to the World Bank and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) convening a virtual conference to put together a response plan to address…

South Kivu Provincial Minister of Agriculture praises IITA contribution to food security amidst COVID-19 crisis

The city of Bukavu will produce 20 tons of tilapia per week by the end of 2020. This will be done through the Tilapia Production in Cages Project implemented by IITA and partners, financially supported by the FPI (Fond de la Promotion de l’Industrie) as part of the 100 Days program of the Democratic Republic…

Continuing to strengthen food systems in Africa

With the global food systems facing a major challenge with the outbreak of COVID-19, it has become imperative for countries to achieve a measure of self-sufficiency in their food production. CGIAR-IITA continues to work with governments in sub-Saharan Africa to facilitate this. IITA R4D Director for Central Africa, Bernard Vanlauwe, has spoken of multiple initiatives…