Biocontrol offers benefits to Africa
From traditional to science based
Amazing maize
Local seeds and social networks
What sustains productivity?
Cassava processing research
Impact of R4D on farmers
Funding agricultural R&D
Outcome mapping
IITA’s new social science research agenda

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IITA undertakes research for development with and for the people, engaging a whole range of partners. Social science provides a rich context that ensures the relevance of agricultural research in discovering, adapting, adopting, and diffusing new technologies and institutional innovations.

IITA researchers have shown that investment in agricultural research is paying off: the generation and diffusion of modern maize varieties in the last three decades have lifted more than 1 million people in sub-Saharan Africa out of poverty in the last 10 years.

A study shows that agricultural research and development, improved weather, and policy reforms were the principal drivers of agricultural productivity in Africa after the mid-1980s.

IITA Molecular Biologist Morag Ferguson emphasizes that farmers’ seed systems are robust and resilient, and along with existing social networks, could effectively help restore diversity in disaster-affected communities.

A new study finds that increasing agricultural productivity through the application of fertilizers and use of improved crop husbandry could have reduced the rate of deforestation.

The Integrated Cassava Project, implemented in 2002–2010, successfully introduced more than 40 cassava varieties to Nigerian farmers, and facilitated the establishment of processing centers and fabricating enterprises.

Biological control programs implemented by IITA and partners on cassava green mite have brought benefits worth more than $1.7 billion to Nigeria, Bénin, and Ghana in the last 18 years.

How can the banana industry help propel Africa’s development? The banana strategy points out what is in store for African banana.

A series of impact studies in Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo provides evidence that IITA’s R4D work does have an impact on small-scale farmers.