News Overview

On 7 May, IITA Kalambo hosted a scientific conference to celebrate the Day of Agroecology 2024. Representatives from research institutions, educational institutions, and national and international NGOs attended the conference under the IITA and ETH Zurich DELIBERATE Project. This Day of Agroecology aligned with the project’s activities for exchanging knowledge and research results with the scientific community, farmers, and players in the coffee and soybean agri-food

Following the strategic launch of the Fertilizer and Soil Health regional hub for West Africa and the Sahel, a two-day technical launch workshop continued in IITA-CGIAR on 27-28 June. The workshop had representatives from the partner organizations constituting the Fertilizer and Soil Health Consortium make presentations on their roles and proposed deliverables in the hub. The IITA-CGIAR Director General, Simeon Ehui, welcomed the Liberia

In a collaborative effort to boost agricultural productivity and support sustainable farming practices, the Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity (NIAA) donated 17 tons of certified seeds to the Borno State Government recently. The Activity is a five-and-half-year program being implemented by the IITA-CGIAR and its partner, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) as part of the United

Rwanda’s farmers have long struggled to obtain quality lime to improve their soil for better crop productivity. The most common lime available was unprocessed, requiring large quantities—between 2.5 and 4 metric tons (mt) per hectare—and had to be applied at least two months before planting. Additionally, distribution networks were inadequate, making it difficult for farmers to access the lime on

The concept of Farmer Promoters was previously unknown in Burundi, but it is no longer novel, thanks to the Kugwiza Project—the name by which the AID-I GLR Project is known in Burundi. Today, Farmer Promoters—locally known as Village-Based Advisors (VBAs) or lead farmers—are commonplace, having been introduced by the project. These VBAs play a crucial role in mobilizing farmers. They introduce new

The IITA Soybean program organized a training session for National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) partners in West Africa under the ‘Strengthening soybean improvement for Africa’ project. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded project aims to strengthen the CGIAR-NARS partnership on variety development and testing efforts. The inaugural training, held at the IITA headquarters from 19 to 22 June, aimed to

By 2050, our planet will be home to over 10 billion people, with Africa alone needing to feed more than 2.5 billion—a monumental task amidst climate crises and global uncertainties. Today, we stand at a pivotal moment. The disparity between population growth and food production in sub-Saharan Africa emphasizes the urgency for innovative solutions. A recent joint paper by Australia’s National

As part of activities to commemorate the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI–CGIAR)’s 50-year celebration and National Pasture Planting Day in Nigeria, ILRI-Ibadan launched the Forage Genetic Resources (FGR) plot on 28 June at the Nigeria Office in Ibadan. According to ILRI-Nigeria Country Representative Tunde Amole, the FGR plot will house over eighty cultivars and the accession of tropically adapted and improved