In 2023, Amina Bellow Abubakar had the opportunity to participate in the poultry production training organized by the Innovative Youth in Agriculture (I-Youth) in Gwale, Kano State. With a background in Mathematics and Physics Education, Amina is rewriting the narrative and changing the stereotypes about women’s employment in the northern part of Nigeria. The 31-year-old mother of three is a
At the 17th Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Gates Foundation, and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) launched the International Consortium for Red Palm Weevil Control (C4RPWC). IITA will lead a critical workstream under the bold, new global initiative to combat the devastating Red Palm Weevil (RPW). This invasive
The Soils4Africa project, funded by the European Union under the Horizon2020 Programme, was designed to build an open-access Soil Information System (SIS) for Africa to monitor soil quality across agricultural lands in Africa. The idea is to create a baseline dataset and a set of standard methodologies and protocols that would allow for repeated soil quality monitoring. A key aspect
In 2004, an aflatoxin outbreak swept through Eastern and Central Kenya, killing over 120 people and hosIn 2004, an aflatoxin outbreak swept through Eastern and Central Kenya, killing over 120 people and hospitalizing many more. The culprit? Maize—our staple food—contaminated with a toxin invisible to the eye but lethal to the liver. I remember the fear vividly. My mother would cook ugali (a stiff
A landmark study published in Nature’s Communications Biology by IITA scientists showcases how CRISPR-based gene editing offers hope for East Africa’s banana farmers. Scientists at IITA-CGIAR have made a major breakthrough in the fight against Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW), a devastating bacterial disease threatening banana crops across East and Central Africa. The findings, recently published in Communications Biology, the prestigious journal from the Nature portfolio, demonstrates how gene
Banana breeding is a slow and time-consuming process, and it is currently taking almost a decade in Tanzania to develop new varieties due to the crop’s complex genetics, sterility, and long generation cycles. In efforts to improve banana breeding through research, there is a great need for research institutes to increase collaboration with the National Agricultural Research System in data
The IITA Kano Station hosted students from Cradle to Career Academy, Zawachiki, Kano during an enriching educational visit recently. The visit was designed to expose the students, comprising Junior Secondary School and Primary 6 pupils, to agricultural research, innovation, and career opportunities in agribusiness. The station administrator, Ado Rabo, warmly received the group and provided an overview of IITA’s work. He explained
IITA–CGIAR has joined the Plant Breeding Innovation Management Program (PBIMP) under the Global Stewardship Group (GSG), reinforcing its commitment to responsible and ethical research in modern biotechnology, including Genome Editing. This strategic move marks another significant milestone in IITA’s continued leadership in agricultural innovation, particularly genome editing. By joining the PBIMP, IITA aligns itself with an international community of research institutions