On 6 May, the Senior Special Adviser (SSA) on Agriculture and Agribusiness to the Ondo State Governor, Honorable Rotimi Akinsola, led a delegation to the IITA–CGIAR headquarters in Ibadan. The visit aimed to explore collaborative opportunities that would enhance Ondo State’s agricultural sector by leveraging IITA’s research-driven innovations and mandate crops. The IITA team, led by the Director for the West Africa
As part of ongoing efforts to revitalize Liberia’s coffee industry and strengthen agricultural diversification, IITA–CGIAR, through the Seeds4Liberia Project, has distributed more than 267,000 coffee seedlings to farmers across four counties—Bong, Lofa, Montserrado, and Nimba. This significant milestone is a key component of IITA–CGIAR’s broader agenda to empower farmers, improve seed systems, and drive economic growth through strategic crop value chains. This distribution
The IITA Youth in Agribusiness (YAS) project has supported trained participants in Oyo State with input and various equipment to facilitate business start-up and expansion in agriculture. The event continues with similar exercises held in Abuja, Kano, and Ogun. The support items include a solar irrigation system, rotary slashers, a de-feathering machine, improved cassava stems, fertilizers, Garri fryers, water tanks, vegetable seeds,
The 2025 IITA Southern Africa Hub (SAH) Retreat, held at Ciela Pleasure Resort in Lusaka, Zambia from April 27 to May 3, 2025, served as a platform for strategic alignment and in-depth work planning for staff across the Southern Africa Hub. The retreat brought together key IITA staff from Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zambia to define regional strategies, strengthen work synergy
Food safety and security threats from aflatoxins have hampered the health and livelihoods of many African consumers and farmers, frequently affecting staples such as maize, groundnut, and sorghum. These harmful toxins are produced by a fungus called Aspergillus flavus and can cause liver cancer, suppress the immune system, and stunt children’s growth. They also make it harder for farmers to sell their
As an institute committed to partnerships with both government and the private sector, IITA–CGIAR was pleased to host Nigeria’s Minister of Communication, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, at its headquarters in Ibadan on 2 May. The Minister’s visit aimed to explore how digital innovation can be leveraged to transform agricultural outcomes in Nigeria through strategic collaboration between the Ministry and
In a significant step to reinforce national agricultural institutions through deeper collaboration with IITA–CGIAR, the Honourable Minister of State for Agriculture, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Safety (FMAFS), His Excellency Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, paid a working visit to IITA’s headquarters in Ibadan on 30 April. The IITA Director for West Africa Hub and Head of Genetic Resources Centre (GRC), Michael Abberton, outlined the
IITA Director General and CGIAR Regional Director for Africa, Dr Simeon Ehui, has co-authored a pivotal article in the Brookings Institution’s Foresight Africa 2025–2030 report with Dr Khuloud Odeh, CGIAR Global Director for Digital and Data. The article spotlights the transformative potential of digital agricultural innovations for smallholder farmers across the continent. In the article “Digital solutions in agriculture drive meaningful livelihood improvements for African smallholder