Fall Armyworm (FAW) is a highly damaging pest to maize. However, in the past five years, it has become a source of concern to smallholder farmers in Africa, who have to devise ways of controlling the pest using chemicals they can hardly afford. The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) Fall Armyworm Compact is helping smallholder maize farmers combat FAW and sustain
An IITA delegation consisting of the Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery, Kenton Dashiell; Director of the Development and Delivery Office, Alfred Dixon; and Coordinator of the TAAT Program Management Unit, Chrys Akem, held a collaborative meeting at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Ibadan, Nigeria. The delegation embarked on a facility tour after the late October meeting. In his address, ILRI Country Representative in Nigeria,
Farmers need timely access to quality seed and other essential agricultural inputs to ensure optimal crop yield contributing to improved household-level food security. According to the International Seed Federation (ISF), “The world’s long-term stability rests on several pillars, one of which is food security. Seed is the starting point of the food system, and farmers everywhere depend on access to
His Excellency John Donnelly, the Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, proposed an area of collaboration with the Institute on a recent visit to IITA headquarters. Commissioner Donnelly was accompanied by his spouse, Madame Sunita Kofnala, and Political and Economic Officer Tosin Gbolasere. Representing IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga, Deputy Director General for Corporate Services Hilde Koper welcomed the team warmly and introduced them to IITA’s
A series of e-learning modules from Agro Landscapes aims to promote the systems thinking needed to transform how our agriculture and food systems interact with the environment and contribute to human wellbeing. Climate change has highlighted the urgent need to transform the way we manage our land and water resources to sustain ourselves, and the COVID-19 pandemic has hammered home
This year’s Cultivating Equality: Advancing Gender Research in Agriculture and Food Systems conference brought together researchers from around the globe to discuss how research can advance gender equality in agriculture and food systems. One plenary session, titled Rural women’s voices: Messages to researchers, highlighted the experiences of rural women farmers and entrepreneurs. Women from Uganda, Kenya, the Netherlands, Nicaragua and
With Kenya in the grip of a drought resulting in 30% less water, women are having to walk up to 14 kilometres each day to get water just to meet their household needs. This does not include watering their crops. Lake Chad, bordering Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon has shrunk by 90% forcing 2.4 million people to flee their homes.
BY KATRINA KOSEC AND LUCIA CARRILLO Do ambitious women tend to be more empowered in their households? Our recent study, published in Economics of Transition and Institutional Change (with co-authors Kamiljon Akramov, Bakhrom Mirkasimov, Jie Song, and Hongdi Zhao) suggests that the answer is yes—women with higher aspirations tend to be more involved in intra-household decision-making, and they and their spouses are also more