News Overview

Climate change is reshaping global agriculture, impacting the productivity of key crops.

The IITA Youth in Agribusiness Unit (IYA) hosted a delegation from Light for the World, along with representatives of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), to deepen collaboration and strengthen the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the unit’s agribusiness and youth employment initiatives.

The Strengthening Nutrition in Priority Staples (SNiPS) Project, funded by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and implemented by IITA–CGIAR since inception has strengthened the OFSP value chain across production, vine multiplication, processing, marketing, and consumption. Evidence from implementation shows growing adoption of OFSP, with Mother’s Delight emerging as the preferred variety in both states due to its high yield and adaptability.

IITA-CGIAR has reinforced its leadership in Africa’s agricultural transformation with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) Phase II Addendum. The MoU, signed in Kigali during a high-level Work Planning Meeting held from 23–24 March 2026, marks a significant step toward accelerating the delivery of climate-smart agricultural technologies across six African countries.

The second edition of the DG’s Talk, hosted by IITA Director General and CGIAR Regional Director for Continental Africa, Dr Simeon Ehui, brought together a global audience for a timely and thought-provoking conversation on Africa’s development trajectory, anchored in agriculture, but extending far beyond it. At the center of the dialogue was Dr Brahima Sangafowa Coulibaly, whose global economic perspective helped frame the continent’s most pressing challenge: how to simultaneously drive food security, create jobs at scale, and achieve structural economic transformation.

Generative AI can close agricultural information gaps. A new AI voice agent offers tailored, real‑time advice to smallholder farmers, even in remote areas.

Countries in West and Central Africa are facing a food crisis with multiple causes. Estimates in late December 2025 suggested that 41.8 million people were already in crisis or worse in October-December 2025. The number was expected to rise to 52.8 million in June-August 2026. IFPRI researchers Oliver Kiptoo Kirui and Chibuzo Nwagboso explain how serious the situation is.

A theoretical understanding of the interconnectedness of water, energy, and food is not enough to drive change – we need to break institutional silos and design bankable projects.