IITA partners with Malawi government and key stakeholders to strengthen food security

As part of efforts to reinforce partnership and policy engagement, IITA–CGIAR joined the government and partners in Malawi to commemorate the joint African Day for Food and Nutrition Security and World Food Day. Exhibitions and presentations by IITA-CGIAR were tailored to promote Aflasafe to control aflatoxins – food safety and nutrition), and the consumption of alternative underutilized crops of cassava, soybean, and cowpea, to help transform lives.

Briefing the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Water Development, Hon. Rosa Fatch Mbilizi and partners at the event, IITA Country Representative, Dr Sika Gbegbelegbe, highlighted various research interventions and how IITA-CGIAR has, over the years, been a source of cross-cutting agricultural innovations and technologies, helping farmers in Malawi to overcome poverty and achieve food security.

In Malawi, IITA-CGIAR has a proven track record of research targeting crops such as cassava, soybeans, cowpeas, and bananas.

At the commemoration, IITA-CGIAR displayed cassava roots alongside various mouth-watering cassava-based snacks, including cassava zigege, donuts made with 80 percent high-quality cassava flour, chin-chin, and other snacks. The snacks were provided by Ellen’s Kitchen, a small-medium enterprise currently operating in Lilongwe.

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