Two major centers in Africa that are part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), will step up collaboration in tackling the challenge of hunger. The two centers intend to build synergies that would unleash the power of crop and livestock improvements to address poverty and malnutrition in Africa.
Farmers in six African countries including Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania will benefit from the second phase of the Commercial Products (COMPRO-II) project, says Dr. Bernard Vanlauwe, Director for Natural Resource Management and Central Africa with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture today.
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has received approval of about US$7m from the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation for the implementation of the second phase of the Commercial Products (COMPRO-II) project, says IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga today.
Global leaders and experts need to integrate biofortification and other available options to fight the menace of vitamin and mineral deficiencies that is afflicting the poor, says the Director-General of HarvestPlus, Dr. Howarth Bouis.
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has commended the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) for successfully leading efforts in developing provitamin A cassava varieties.
IBADAN, NIGERIA (2 APRIL 2012)—In one of the most ambitious efforts ever undertaken on behalf of an orphan crop like yam, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and a host of partners announced today a landmark new initiative to dramatically boost yam productivity and double the incomes of three million yam farmers in West Africa.
The consumption of pro-vitamin A cassava could help Nigeria reduce economic losses in Gross Domestic Product that is estimated at about $1.5billion, says the Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga.
“But more than economic savings, it will also improve the nutrition of women and children who are the most vulnerable,” says Sanginga at the public presentation of pro-vitamin A varieties by the Nigerian government in Umudike on Friday.
Funding for cassava research for development in Cameroon is having a positive impact with farmers recording increases in yield, fewer pests and disease pressure, improved livelihoods and more money in their pockets.
From 10 tons per hectare, farmers with improved varieties are now harvesting between 25 and 30 tons per hectare of cassava, according to Cameroon’s state project on roots and tuber crops that is popularly known as Programme National de Development des Racines et Tubereules (PNDRT).
Tapping research outputs from international agricultural research centers could help national and state governments to tackle the twin problems of food insecurity and the rising wave of unemployment, says the Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga.
Faced with the challenge of food deficit, most governments in developing countries and especially Africa rely on food imports to meet local demands. Also the rising population in the region poses two important challenges: more mouths to feed and unemployment.
Nigerian farmers are getting cleaner seed yams that promise better harvests in the seasons ahead, thanks to the healthy seed yam producing technique by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.
The healthy seed yam producing technique involves cutting tubers of yam into small sizes of between 50 and 100 grams, treating them with appropriate pesticides and insecticides before planting.
In Ekiti state, a yam producing region in Nigeria, farmers who participated in the healthy yam project in 2011 now have enough seed yams to plant this season.
Research by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture is not only increasing knowledge generally in the sciences, but also positively transforming livelihoods in Africa, says Ms Cecilia Akintomide, Secretary General, African Development Bank.
“The impact is real and I am proud of the results coming out of this African-based research institution,” Akintomide said during a private visit to IITA in Ibadan on Monday.
A research team led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has developed three new varieties of vitamin A cassava that could improve the livelihoods of millions of farmers in Africa and help put an end to malnutrition due to vitamin A deficiency in the continent.
Prison inmates participating in a yam improvement project led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and Diocesan Development Services (DDS) are gaining skills on how to better cultivate the tuber crop, and are being empowered to face life’s challenges after serving their jail terms.
Getting the youths involved in conservation could help preserve the African forests, sustain efforts on reforestation, and slow down the alarming rate of deforestation and natural resource degradation, says Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
Nigeria, Africa’s world largest producer of cassava, will save more than N315bn (about $2.1bn) annually if bakers adopt 50 per cent cassava flour inclusion in wheat flour, says Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akin Adesina.
At the moment, Nigeria imports wheat worth N635 billion (about $4.2bn) annually, hurting its foreign exchange earnings and worsening the rate of unemployment. The inclusion of cassava in bread aims to cut imports of wheat by half.
Farmers participating in field trials of staple food crops with researchers from the Nigerian national programs and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Kwara State are hopeful of increasing their yield this season, as the growth of plants show promise of a bumper harvest in the days ahead.
The trials which commenced in July this year are part of the Africa Development Bank (AfDB)-funded Community-Based Agriculture and Rural Development Project which is targeting four key crops in that region; maize, cassava, soybean and yam.
Research by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture is critical to the transformation of Nigeria’s agricultural sector, says Dr Akinwumi Adesina, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Minister’s Statement to the Nation.
“IITA is crucial for Nigeria and we stand ready to support IITA in its important work. Very well done,” he says today.
Scientists at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture are working with national partners to double yields of Nigeria’s major stables, thanks to the Africa Development Bank (AfDB)-funded Community-Based Agriculture and Rural Development Project.
Nigeria-based Karma Foods Limited is establishing a $20million factory that will take delivery of locally produced soybeans at the end of this year’s harvest, and open up new marketing opportunities for Nigerian soybean farmers.
The governments of Ghana and the Republic
of Liberia have officially agreed to jointly develop, promote and implement
research activities to improve the agricultural sectors of the two countries.
The agreement was forged through a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) signed by representatives of Ghana and Liberia.
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, through its Sustainable
Tree Crops Program (STCP), in collaboration with the Ghana Cocoa Board
facilitated the development and signing of the agreement. IITA/STCP works
in both countries.
