IITA launches a USAID-funded project called “Unleashing the Power of Cassava in response to the food price crisis (UPoCA)” to further increase cassava production in farmers’ fields by 30% in seven sub-Saharan African countries.

IITA established an East and Southern African hub in Tanzania this year. Director Steffen Abele said the hub will give priority attention to research in banana, plantain, and cassava, and provide better services to scientists in those two regions.

Continuing follow-up media coverage and reports by various news services on the Banana 2008 Conference are now available.

Although the initial posts of R4D Review are done by IITA we really want to change our role to being facilitators of research for development ideas, initiatives, collaborations, projects, highlights and critical reviews. Your participation is essential to make this a R4D knowledge resource. In addition to posting comments on the articles we are looking for new sources of solid, useful ideas that can improve research-for-development practice. Please submit your contributions to r4dreview@iita.org.

Representatives from the banana research and industry from all over Africa had an excellent meeting in Kenya in October 2008. The ambition to develop a 10-year strategic roadmap that would harmonize and guide efforts to promote the marketing and trade of the crop in the continent has been kick-started with contributions of key players in the banana world and critical reviewers. The prospects look promising and further details will be released post-conference.

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) Vice President for Policy and Partnerships Akin Adesina, was at IITA recently to talk about how agriculture could transform Nigeria from a food-deficit to a food-exporting country again.

IITA was among eight CGIAR centers that will receive over €4 million in funding from Irish Aid. Peter Power, Irish Minister of State for Overseas Development, said that the €4.4 million funding is a “central component” of Irish Aid’s response to the global food crisis.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has called for more research on the tropical root crop cassava to help poor countries cope with rising food and oil prices. Cassava is a staple food for millions of poor people in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Asia, providing as much as a third of daily calories.