The International Society for Tropical Root Crops (ISTRC) held the 14th edition of its symposium on 20-24 September. Zambia was the host country. The virtual symposium assembled professionals of root and tuber crops to reflect on the progress made over the years in advancing root and tuber crops, despite challenges faced and plan on jointly fighting hunger and poverty. IITA Digital Extension &
On 24 September, Releaf—a team of youth—visited IITA headquarters. Releaf is led by Ikenna Nzewi, operating the technology value chains of crops, including cassava, oil palm, soybean, maize, and cashew. The visit was to request support and explore possible areas of partnership with the Institute for agricultural sustainability on oil palm production. The organization started in 2017 as an agricultural technology company
Despite the introduction of several intervention programs to reduce or eradicate youth unemployment, creating jobs to reduce unemployment has been a major and trending issue across most developing and less developed countries in the world. However, the increasing unemployment rate in Nigeria among the youth within the age bracket of 25–35 remains a challenge to social and economic stability. This
The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) program has won the 2021 Stevie Award for a 5-minute documentary showcasing its achievements. The video, produced for the 2021 High-level Dialogue on Feeding Africa, won the best “video documentary” in the competition. The 2021 International Business Awards, the world’s only all-encompassing business awards competition, drew more than 3,700 nominations from 65 nations. More than a dozen
From 24 to 25 August, IITA in partnership with INERA, the Yangambi Faculty of Agricultural Sciences Institute, the WAVE program, Food and Agriculture Organization, with the financial support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, and the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) organized an advocacy workshop on operationalizing the national cassava disease response plan in DRC. The workshop aimed to
Agriculture is one of Africa’s most important economic activities, providing employment opportunities and contributing to the average GDP for exported produce. Moreover, African agriculture generates income and enhances food production to meet rapidly growing population demands. IITA, in partnership with two other CGIAR centers, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and Bioversity International, had been implementing the Consortium for
On 15 September, the Business Incubation Platform (BIP) of IITA hosted the official launch of the “Insects4Feed Impact Cluster” project at the Institute’s Conference Center. The Government of The Netherlands awarded the project to Nigeria, and IITA BIP is one of the implementing partners together with the University of Ibadan (UI), New Generation for Nutrition (NGN), etc. The project seeks to raise
CGIAR participated in the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) 2021 themed: Science and Innovation for Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems in Africa through a side event organized by Africa-based CGIAR centers led by IITA. The side event, held on 6 September, had the theme “Pathways to recovery and resilient food systems.” The session introduced One CGIAR and its Africa research, innovation