By Dr. Godwin Atser On 01 November 2011, history was made— a little-known son of Africa would take over perhaps the largest agricultural research institute on the African Continent. That person was Dr. Emmanuel Nteranya Sanginga, who would become the first African-born Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria. Before…
How BASICS is changing Nigeria’s cassava seed sector, creating seed entrepreneurs
Africa has grappled with the sustainable diffusion of improved cassava varieties due to a weak and uncoordinated dissemination strategy that has denied farmers improved varieties hence keeping production low. However, the project— Building an Economically Sustainable, Integrated Cassava Seed System (BASICS) has demonstrated that the cassava seeds system can be profitable for the players involved…
Revised Handbook of West African Weeds launched
A team from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture managed Cassava Weed Management Project has published a revised version of the Handbook of West African Weeds. Launched Tuesday in Ibadan, Nigeria by the Senior Program Officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lawrence Kent during the annual review and work planning meeting of the…
Cassava: Over 100 trained as spray service providers
Close to a hundred people have trained as spray service providers on herbicides application, safety and use in Abia state, Nigeria. The training, which came at the onset of cassava planting season, was conducted by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture led Cassava Weed Management Project in partnership with the National Root Crops Research Institute,…
IITA Cassava Weed Management Project empowers cassava farmers in economic recession
When a Nigerian novelist, Florence Nwapa (1931-1993) wrote about the importance of cassava in her poem—Cassava, not many people may have appreciated the importance of cassava in national and food security. Nwapa’s article was inspired by the events that occurred during the Nigerian civil war (1967-1970) and how cassava was able to save lives, guarantee…
Integrated agricultural research systems key to Africa’s transformation
Integrated systems research approach in agriculture is key to sustainable transformation in Africa with benefits including increase in yields and livelihoods improvement of resource-poor farmers, according to the Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Dr Nteranya Sanginga. The systems approach places the farmer at the center and develops an understanding of the…
Researchers flag threats to Nigeria’s cassava industry
By Michael Oleja Nigeria’s rising population, particularly in the cities, coupled with low productivity (yield per hectare) of cassava roots is threatening the country’s cassava industry and could impede the gains made in the sector, putting the country at risk of becoming a net importer of staple crops. Grown by over 4.5 million people in…