News Overview

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and IITA–CGIAR have a long-standing donor-partner relationship with more than half of IITA’s research and delivery projects to reduce hunger and improve livelihoods in Africa funded by the foundation. On 17 April, the new Gates Foundation Country Director for Nigeria, Dr Jeremie Zoungrana, and Senior Program Officer for Agriculture, Dr Audu Grema, visited the IITA Ibadan campus. The

Patrice Muhimbabwenge no longer has to uproot his entire banana plantation to address the threat posed by Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW), the most notorious banana disease in Rwanda. This is a major shift from his usual practice prior to the introduction of a digital tool that proffers Single Diseased Stem Removal (SDSR) technique, as an effective and proven approach. Patrice,

Climate change in Nigeria threatens economic growth in sectors such as agriculture, fishery, and forestry, which are more predisposed to adverse climatic conditions. The Nigerian climate has been irregular over the years, alternating between periods of extreme dry or rainy seasons. Climate change in Nigeria has led to seasons of drought and excess flood, which has affected agricultural activities and

Zero Hunger Project team trained finance and communication officers from Institut Togolais de Recherches Agronomiques (ITRA), L’Institut de Conseil et d’Appui Technique (ICAT)and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, from 11 to 13 April. The purpose of the training was to ensure the stakeholders were equipped with the necessary skills to implement the project (financially and technically) according

Value addition of agriculture products is crucial to the sector’s development in Tanzania and improving the livelihood of the country’s smallholder farmers. To contribute to agricultural transformation, IITA-Tanzania and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT (ABC), through the Supporting and Strengthening Community Resilience in Tanzania (SSUCORETA) project purchased 14 processing machines for smallholder farmers and processors groups to increase processing

The IITA–CGIAR-led BSF for Bio Circular Economy and Environmental Sustainability (BBEST) project, in partnership with the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute (BNARI), has trained selected poultry, pig, and fish farmers on the Black soldier fly (BSF) technology in Accra, Ghana. As part of activities to build capacity and BSF technology know-how of youth agripreneurs and other stakeholders, the project has

Institutional collaborations are critical for effectively monitoring, preventing, and controlling plant pathogens and pests. The Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) has partnered with IITA–CGIAR, through the Institute’s Germplasm Health Unit (IITA-GHU), as a resource base to enhance the knowledge, surveillance, and diagnostics capacity of its workforce. A 100-member team of newly recruited NAQS staff visited IITA on 17 April, as part

As part of efforts to strengthen the value chain processes in agriculture, especially among smallholder farmers in Nigeria, the Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture, in partnership with IITA–CGIAR, launched the Ogun State Farmer Information Management System (OGFIMS) on 20 April 2023. OGFIMS, funded by the World Bank, is a joint digital agriculture initiative that is part of the Ogun State Economic