Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has expressed the readiness of his administration to collaborate with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to ensure food security in the state.
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Showing posts with label IITA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IITA. Show all posts
Thursday, August 17, 2023
Food security: Oyo to partner IITA - ITREALMS
NaijaAgroNet: ... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has expressed the readiness of his administration to collaborate with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to ensure food security in the state.
Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has expressed the readiness of his administration to collaborate with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to ensure food security in the state.
Monday, June 12, 2017
@50: IITA expands investment, launches 205.5 ha research farm
The
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has launched a new research station in Ago-Owu
in Osun state, Nigeria, as part of efforts to expand its research agenda and
create impact at farm level as part of IITA's 50th anniversary, reports NaijaAgroNet.
The Ago-Owu
research station, NaijaAgroNet gathered is located in Ayedade Local Government Area, Osun state, and
will primarily serve as a research and training facility that will backstop the
state’s agricultural programs and offer training support to the youth in the area
in particular and Nigeria in general.
NaijaAgroNet recalled that in 2015,
Governor Rauf Aregbesola donated a piece of land measuring about 205.5 hectares
to IITA as he sought to bring research closer to the people of the state with a
view to creating transformational change in the agricultural sector of the
state.
IITA accepted the offer with the signing of a memorandum of
understanding and began investment on the land with the development of roads
and other infrastructure.
Governor
Aregbesola said he was glad the MoU with IITA moved beyond paper to
implementation. He commended IITA for its research efforts in the last 50
years, adding that the research facility will advance research in Osun state
with a spinoff effect on other parts of the country.
“We believe
that this research facility will train and empower our youth in modern
agriculture,” he said.
The
inauguration of the research facility also allowed researchers to make
presentations on new findings from cassava weed management, breeding, banana
breeding and multiplication, cassava processing, and aflasafe—a technology for
controlling aflatoxins among others.
There was a presentation of improved seeds
of maize, cowpea, soybean, yam, plantain seedlings, and cassava stems for
onward distribution to farmers in Osun state. IITA also gave the governor some
quantities of Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags which provide simple,
low-cost method of reducing post-harvest cowpea losses due to insects’
infestations.
The Director
General, IITA, Dr Nteranya Sanginga said, IITA was happy to work with and in
Osun state.
“This
research facility is part of our strategy to take research closer to the
people. Our plan is to make this station a one-stop shop where farmers’ needs
will be addressed,” he said.
Under the
refreshed IITA strategy, IITA plans to lift 11 million people out of poverty in
sub-Saharan Africa by 2020 and to reclaim 7.5 million hectares of degraded land
and put the land into sustainable use. Achieving this goal entails IITA
expanding its partnership scope and strengthening old partnerships.
Dr Sanginga
said the Ago-Owu research facility would primarily conduct research on cassava,
maize, yam, soybean, banana/plantain and cowpea. “We will also be using the
facility to train Nigerian youths in agribusiness,” he added.
The
inauguration of Ago-Owo research station brings to six the number of such
facilities in Nigeria. Others are located in Onne (Rivers State), Abuja, Mokwa
(Niger state), Minjibir (Kano), and Ikene (Ogun State).
Dr Alfred
Dixon, Director for Development and Delivery, IITA, said the inauguration of
the research facility was a step in the right direction with the potential of
bringing many benefits to the people of the state in particular, and the
country in general.
He said the
research facility would assist the state in accelerating its agricultural
reform agenda whose particular focus is on increasing agricultural productivity
and job creation.
Established
in 1967, IITA is an international agricultural research institution that
generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of
hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with
various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, IITA improves livelihoods, enhance
food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resource
integrity. The Institute operates in Nigeria and 13 research stations/hubs
across sub-Saharan Africa.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking
agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
IITA expert advocates youth connection to improved technology, agribusinesses
NaijaAgroNet
Pix: Alfred Dixon
The
Project Leader, Cassava Weed Management Project, International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Alfred Dixon, has advocated youth connection to a
source of improved technology and access to information of good agricultural
businesses, NaijaAgroNet reports.
“Youth
engagement in agric can be in the production aspect like crop production, tuber
production and cassava stem production. It can be in the post harvest aspect by
adding value to what is already produced or the consumption aspects which come
after harvesting, it involves handling and packaging, transportation,
distribution, retailing, marketing and warehousing,” he said.
Dixon
said this recently while delivering keynote at the Covenant Capital, a division
of Covenant Christian Centre on the agricultural sector which has the theme
“SME Opportunities in Nigeria’s Agribusiness Value Chain.”
The
event which took place at the church auditorium in Iganmu, Lagos witnessed
other experts who noted that Nigeria, Africa’s
largest economy is expected to double its current population by 2050 and that the
future of the country’s economy is in the hands its teeming youth population.
They
stressed that with the high rate of youth unemployment in the country, there is
need for government to harness the potential in the agricultural sector by
making it very attractive to the youths.
The
Vice Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Multi-Trex Integrated Foods Plc Oladimeji
Owofemi said, “In the logistic
performance index Nigeria is ranked lower than South Africa which has a
population of just 45 or 50 billion people. Government needs to provide good
road infrastructure network to reduce production cost.”
While
the CEO, X- Ray Farms, Afioluwa Mogaji, in his speech harped on the need for
youths across the country to see the opportunities in the agricultural value
chain because the opportunities are enormous.“With the massive opportunities in
agriculture in the country, oil is supposed to be an alternative to
agriculture,” he said.
Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE with additional report from Business Day
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technologyPix: Alfred Dixon
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Researchers target at agribusiness
Research activities in the
agricultural sector over the last 12 months are majorly targeted at improving
productivity of the sector as well as improving the lives of farmers,
particularly the small holder farmers.
Just recently was the signing of a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
(IITA) and Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), to unleash the potential
of agriculture and natural resources in Africa.
The MoU is to help in building the
critical human capital to address present and future challenges like climate
change, pest and disease of the agricultural sector. It will also look into the
development of the sector while engaging the youths and giving them the needed
tools to be fruitful.
The 2012 edition of Global
Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century (GCP21) held in June in Uganda had
over 300 global leading cassava researchers in attendance who
discussed the ways to improve productivity of cassava with the use of
scientific research and development approach.
As a body working on
research and development of cassava crop, GCP21 has 45 member institutions conducting
research about the crop.
NaijaAgroNet recalled that
researchers at the GCP21 urge concerned stakeholders dialogue with farmers and
other stakeholders using scientific and technical meetings that farmers can
actually leverage on research and development for a better productivity.
Other issues discussed
during the conference include seeking smart strategies, funding opportunities
and catalyzing solutions to tackle technical challenges like cassava
genomics, and bringing about a significant transformation in cassava in order
to impact people’s lives, especially those that depend on the crop for
survival.
On the other side, The Wellcome
Trust late 2011 granted the sum of £500,000 about N128.044 million for a
research on how humans influence domestic dogs.
The study which happens to be the
largest studies into the relationship between man and dog looked into the way
man breed, feed, train and socialize with dogs.
Also earlier in 2012, the International
Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) hosted a gathering of United
Kingdom (UK) Parliamentarians and Civil Servants, African farmers,
international donors and scientists which called for a reshape of agricultural
research which would serve as developmental goals and work towards public good.
Items that topped the
agenda of the gathering include plant breeding and seed selection,
options for managing soil fertility, options for developing accessible markets,
ways of governing, organising, funding and practising research.
The types
of policies needed to transform Africa’s agriculture, comprising changes to
tenure, subsidies and investment were also discussed.
Yinka Awosanya/LS
... Linking agrobiz, people & technology
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Save Africa from hunger -IITA boss
Sanginga, IITA Director General |
The Director General of the
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Nteranya Sanginga,
has urged world leaders not to relent their efforts towards the fight against
food insecurity in Africa.
Sanginga expressed the
institution’s gratitude over the improvements recorded in agricultural
productivity in the past affirming that there are still more to be done as
regards food security in the continent.
He noted that efforts should be
doubled due to the spiraling growth rate of the continent’s population and the
degrading soil which does not work towards improving agricultural productivity.
IITA revealed to NaijaAgroNet that the Sub-Saharan
Africa’s population growth rate is 2.4 per cent, a rate which is high compared
to 1.3 per cent of non-African countries.
“Clearly there is much work to be
done in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Dr. Sanginga emphasised that food security
attainment is huge with increasing challenge and increase in total production
which is at the expense of natural resource base.
According to the IITA boss, there
is the need to adopt sustainable intensification of agricultural production
practices to conserve and recycle soil nutrient which will in turn reduce the
need to clear new land for agricultural use.
Approaches to concentrate on
towards addressing the issue of food insecurity, Dr. Sanginga said should
include increase in agricultural productivity, food availability and its
safety.
He stressed that the agriculture
sector’s overall performance must all be increased against the growing urban
population, uncertain effects of climate change, increased in demand for energy
as well as disease pandemics.
He also commended the renewed
attention to agriculture by leaders in the continent which is producing
positive results, and urged for more commitment of resources to the sector, and
that IITA is always ready to partner with any organisation towards improving
lives of Africans.
IITA, one of the world’s leading
research partners in finding solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and poverty
has several awards for using research for development (R4D) in addressing the
developmental needs of tropical countries, and had since inception worked with
partners to improve crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer
risks, and generate wealth from agriculture.
Yinka Awosanya
... Linking agrobiz, people & technology
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Decisive actions needed for small scale farmers development-IITA boss
The International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Director General, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga has
affirmed the need for decisive actions to help small-scale farmers in order for
food security in Africa not to remain elusive with isolated successes.
Speaking in Australia recently at
the Crawford Fund annual conference, Dr. Sanginga said the assistance for the
farmers should be to help them grow more valuable crops.
IITA revealed to NaijaAgroNet in a
press statement that low soil fertility and nutrient depletion are obstacles to
food security in the continent despite the achievement recorded in crop
improvement.
A back up of the IITA boss about
land depletion is a recent study by the institute conduction in Great Lakes
region of East Africa which showed the majority of the soils in that region are
now barren with very little fertility.
IITA attributed the barrenness of
the soil to years of mining as well as insufficient replacement of nutrients by
smallholder farmers.
Dr. Sanginga also advocated the
adoption of Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM), the application of
soil fertility management practices, and the knowledge to adapt these to local
conditions.
The ISFM, he said would optimise
fertilizer and organic resources use efficiency and crop productivity.
According to the Dr. Sanginga, the ISFM presents
a means to overcome the dilemma of low productivity which is attainable by
offering better returns for investment in fertilizer to farmers.
... Linking agrobiz, people & technology
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
IITA boosts food security in Cameroon with cassava varieties
At the presentation of the cassava varieties |
The
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in a bid to boost the
agricultural sector in Cameroon on food security has unveiled improved cassava
varieties.
IITA revealed
to NaijaAgroNet in a press statement
that five new improved cassava varieties were released to safeguard the lives
of millions of Cameroonians.
These varieties
namely with genotypes TMS 92/0326, TMS 96/1414, TMS 96/0023, TMS 92/0057, and
TMS 92/0067, according to IITA were developed through conventional breeding by
the institute and some other partners.
The improved
varieties would improve nutritional values through the provision of
caratenoids, iron and zinc as they have an estimated 20 tonnes to 35 tonnes per
hectare.
Programme
National de Development des Racines et Tubercules (PNDRT), the Institute of
Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD), non-governmental organizations as well as local
farmers partnered IITA on this project.
According to
the IITA Director General, Dr Nteranya Sanginga, who was quoted as saying that
the varieties would help close the yield gaps while improving yield and
increasing farmers' revenue especially those that rely on cassava for livelihood.
"IITA will
continue to support farmers in Cameroon by offering improved varieties and
technologies that address the constraints to development in tropical
nations," the IITA boss said.
Cameroonian
Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Essimi Menye commended the efforts of IITA in
developing these varieties, adding that the new they would assist the nation to
take advantage of the opportunities of the crop which is one of the major staples
in Cameroon.
As said by IITA,
Cassava in Cameroon is either boiled and eaten, or processed into local
delicacies such as Mitumba, Baton de manioc, Beignets de manioc, gari, and Ndas
among others. Other use includes ethanol production, inclusion in bread
production ad glucose syrup production.
... Linking agrobiz, people & technology
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
IITA, ABUAD sign MoU to unlock potentials in Africa
International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture (IITA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Afe Babalola
University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) in order to unlock Africa's potential in
agriculture, natural resources and human.
NaijaAgroNet gathered that the MoU is to
serve as a linking bridge between the two institutions to boost cooperation so
as to complement each other's research efforts.
Commenting on the MoU, Director
General of IITA, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga expressed the institute's excitement
over the MoU that IITA is confident to work with ABUAD to tackle hunger and
poverty challenges on the continent.
"The MoU will help in building
the critical human capital that will address the present and future challenges
of not only agriculture but also development," Dr. Sanginga said, adding
that agriculture is faced with several constraints like climate change, pests
and diseases.
He said the objective of the MoU is
a meaningful avenue to engage the youths and give them the tools to be
productive.
Specifically, IITA and ABUAD will
collaborate in research and development topics of mutual interest, develop
joint research and development project proposals, organize joint research
activities, conferences, and workshops, establish linkages between IITA and
ABUAD scientists, exchange students, and share research materials and
publications of common interest.
Vice-Chancellor of ABUAD, Prof.
Sidi Osho said the MoU would also help to boost food production and security.
Prof. Osho also revealed that the MoU will confer great benefits on the university
in terms of international linkages, exchange programs, strengthening research
and offering qualitative strategies for administrative capacity.
Yinka Awosanya/LS
... Linking agrobiz, people & technology
Friday, June 8, 2012
Nigeria, five others benefit from Gates’ largesse
Farmers from six African countries, including Nigeria,
are to benefit from the largesse of the second phase of the Commercial Products
(COMPRO-II) project being funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
According to NaijaAgroNet
investigations, Gates Foundation has before now approved the project which
amounts to $7 million, about N1.09 billion, with Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia,
Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania as the six countries to benefit from the second
phase of the project.
The International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in a press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet
also revealed that the project is tagged ‘Institutionalization of quality
assurance mechanism and dissemination of top quality commercial products to
increase crop yields and improve food security of smallholder farmers in
sub-Saharan Africa.’
IITA Director General, Nteranya
Sanginga noted that the main objectives of the project are to institutionalize
quality assurance mechanisms and facilitate the rapid dissemination of top
quality commercial products to increase yields and also improve security of
smallholder farmers.
Further, he said the project is to
increase awareness among over two million smallholder farmers on effective and
profitable commercial products by 2016 through public-private partnership.
Prem Warrior, a senior Programme
Officer at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said that the expected outcome
of the project is the institutionalization of screening and approval of
commercial products.
The phase II of the project
proposes to transit technologies used for the phase 1 of the project into
Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda; institutionalize regulatory and quality control
processes; disseminate effective products through
public-private partnerships; develop communication tools, and
strengthen human capacity.
NaijaAgroNet gathered that at the end of the project, more farmers
are expected to confidently use the quality assurance products because of their
safety, efficacy, and quality will be ensured through institutionalized
regulatory and quality assurance mechanisms.
Yinka Awosanya/LS
... Linking agrobiz, people & technology
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