IITA–CGIAR considers the private sector a major stakeholder in the development of Africa’s agriculture; therefore, the Institute welcomes collaboration with diverse private-sector entities. From 29 October to 1 November, IITA hosted delegates from AgBiome Inc and 5Metis Inc at the Institute’s headquarters in Ibadan, Nigeria. The two US-based companies were exploring collaboration with IITA in the second phase of their grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop novel crop protection solutions against plant diseases for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.
In a meeting with the IITA Management team, AgBiome Plant Pathology Head, Dr Mathias Twizeyimana, stated that AgBiome partners with local and international research institutes to validate their technologies. He added that AgBiome worked with IITA in the first phase of their project and sought to continue the partnership during its second phase.