Why do relationships matter? Find out why in this brief explaining the importance of understanding crossing combinations in developing rice cultivars suitable for sub-Saharan Africa.

Information on the banana genome and molecular tools to map traits are lacking. IITA is mapping and characterizing new molecular markers for use in banana breeding and genetics.

Guest contributor Glenn Gregorio of IRRI suggests that hybrid rice may help solve Africa’s rice woes. Find out how tropical hybrids fared under conditions in the IITA research farm in Ibadan, Nigeria.

First it was the cassava mealybug, then the cassava green mite that threatened the food security of more than 300 million in sub-Saharan Africa. Now, another threat to cassava is emerging.

IITA plant pathologists present an overview of an emerging menace in banana in West-Central and Southern Africa, and the findings from ongoing efforts to control the disease.

As the debate over Nigeria’s biosafety bill gathers momentum, Atser Godwin chronicles efforts undertaken by the Government so far.

Kirsten Jørgensen and Birger Lindberg Møller describe their work on reducing the level of toxic cyanogenic glucosides in different parts of cassava, the tropical tuber that is a staple to millions in Africa.

Hartmann talks about how the current food crisis could be used as an opportunity to turn agriculture around to enhance food security, increase incomes, and improve the well being of millions of people in Africa.

IITA has produced 17 high-yielding and disease- and pest-resistant varieties for planting in marginal areas in Africa and developed technologies for revitalizing soybean processing and marketing.

Read about how IITA technologies help poor farmers in Borno State in northeastern Nigeria lead more productive lives.