From 10 to 15 June, IITA and partners organized a joint seed fair in the northern Nigerian Kano and Jigawa states. The seed fair aimed to create awareness among farmers on the availability of seeds of improved crop varieties and help them to access quality seeds for enhanced productivity. Additional objectives are to provide market opportunities for the seed companies to market
The Innovative Youth in Agriculture (I-Youth) project has completed year 1 activities across various project components in Kaduna, Kano, and Lagos states. IITA is implementing the I-Youth project in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, cutting across six components: agricultural orientation, agribusiness internships, technical internships, young farmers’ cohort, Start Them Early Program (STEP), and e-commerce. The beneficiaries of the project already have tales to tell. These
The Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa Phase II (YIIFSWA II) project has handed over some project outputs to IITA GoSeed to ensure the post-project sustainability of the technologies. In a short ceremony on 14 July, the project turned over 42 plant form temporary immersion bioreactors (TIS) and 40 plantlets, as a part of the exit strategy, with YIIFSWA II
As the Olokemeji reforestation project swings into full gear, the IITA Forest Center held its first training for School Conservation Club (SCC) leaders held in Ibadan on 15 and 16 July. This partially fulfills the project’s mandates to bring children on board as critical conveners of biodiversity conservation efforts for sustainable succession. The two-day instructor-led course equipped the volunteer teachers with the required
More than 20 farmers from Katogota and Kamanyola in the Ruzizi plain of South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), took part in a participatory evaluation of intercropping trials of maize and Brachiaria grass. IITA organized this activity on 14 July as part of the Integrated Project for Agricultural Growth in the Great Lakes (PICAGL) in collaboration with the Consortium for
Tanzania has officially released four new, improved hybrids of the important staple cooking banana, “matooke”. These are the first-ever matooke banana hybrids released in Tanzania. These hybrids are resistant to important pests and diseases ravaging the current varieties that millions of farmers across the country are growing and, as such, herald an exciting era for banana cultivation in the country.
Mechanization has been recognized as an essential factor in agriculture development efforts to save on labor and time in many farming operations for smallholder farmers. In Mozambique, IITA conducted a study on a hand push manual seeder (HPMS), also known as the Legume Hand Push Manual Planter (LHPMP), to be used by farmers, particularly female farmers, in the establishment of common legume
The IITA Uganda Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Team conducted focus group discussions with more than 150 smallholder coffee, vanilla, and cocoa farmers in Kasese district, western Uganda, last May. The activity is part of a collaboration between the Sustainable Food Lab, USAID, Touton, and IITA that brings together the private sector, agricultural researchers, and smallholder farmers to improve smallholder farmer livelihoods. Kasese – about 370