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.

People affected by HIV/AIDS in southern Africa will benefit from a health and livelihoods initiative based on agriculture launched by IITA. MIRACLE aims at improving the health and nutrition status, food security, and incomes of people affected by HIV/AIDS in the subregion.

IITA has a new Director General: Dr Nteranya E. Sanginga. Dr Sanginga has more than 21 years of experience in agricultural research and development, particularly in the fields of applied microbial ecology, plant nutrition, and integrated natural resources management in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.

A new book, titled Protection de la Nature en Afrique de l’Ouest: Une Liste Rouge pour le Bénin (Nature Conservation in West Africa: Red List for Benin) is now available at IITA.

Ghana and the Republic of Liberia have agreed to jointly develop, promote, and implement research activities to improve their agricultural sectors.