US university explores areas of collaboration with IITA
Delegates from Delaware State University (DSU) in the United States of America visited IITA on 17 November to explore possible areas of partnership that will provide its students with opportunities of acquiring the global experiences needed to enable them to face the world after graduation.
Alejandro Ortega-Beltran explains about aflatoxin contamination and aflasafe development to DSU visitors.
The delegates, led by the University’s President Harry Williams were received by Robert Asiedu, Director, Research for Development, West Africa.
“As a core value at DSU, the university is open to establishing partnerships with interested bodies. It now has 13 different partner countries. Nigeria is one of the countries we have decided to reach out to, so we are here to foster a relationship with IITA and to learn possibilities available for partnership”, said President Williams. He added, “We hope that collaborating with IITA will help us advance and bring the benefits of agricultural research to our university”.
The delegates made a tour around IITA fields and laboratories including the IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA) where Evelyn Ohanwusi and other youth received them and made a presentation on the IYA.
The visitors were impressed with the ideas the Agripreneurs shared during the presentation and how far IITA had gone in developing and winning the interest of young men and women on agriculture.
Several areas of interest were identified, with the visitors impressed with the IYA model and the value chain approach of the Institute which encompasses crop improvement in terms of productivity, and food safety especially the aflasafe technology.
At the end of the tour, Marikis Alvarez, a staff member of DSU said, “It will be an exciting experience for our students to come to IITA and get orientation and training in different fields. This visit is a success to us.”
