IITA has recently reinvigorated its research for development on natural resources management (NRM) with a particular focus on soils. This renewed focus highlights the importance of sustainable intensification and appropriate crop and nutrient management practices, along with integrated soil fertility management (ISFM).
The Commercial Products (COMPRO-II) project was launched this year in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The Nigerian Government has released two new maize hybrids that can provide more vitamin A in the diets of millions in the country.
Tanzania’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives (MAFC) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have launched three new projects to support efforts to develop cassava varieties with resistance to Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) and Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD).
IITA and the West Africa Center for Crop Improvement (WACCI) have signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at increasing the number of plant breeders in Africa.
IITA and partners recently launched the Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa (YIIFSWA) project to boost yam productivity and double the incomes of three million yam small-holder farmers in West Africa.
Three pro-vitamin A cassava varieties developed by IITA in partnership with the National Root Crops Research Institute (Nigeria) were launched recently by the Nigerian government.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a US$63.24 million fund package for implementing a 5-year, multi-CGIAR center project dubbed “Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops in Africa”.
IITA will host the 12th Plant Virus Symposium (http://www.iita.org/IPVE) to be held on 28 January-1 February 2013, in Arusha, Tanzania.
Scientists based in Nigeria and Kenya started an initiative against two parasitic weeds that have spread across much of sub-Saharan Africa. The project, coordinated by IITA, will introduce technologies for fighting Striga (witchweed), and Alectra.
IITA and partners recently launched a project that will provide farmers in Nigeria and Kenya with a natural, safe, and cost-effective solution to prevent the contamination of maize and groundnut by a cancer-causing poison, aflatoxin.