IITA Plans to Save 11m from Poverty—DG

June 13, 2017
IITA Plans to Save 11m from Poverty—DG

IITA Plans to Save 11m from Poverty—DG

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Director General of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Nteranya Sanginga, has disclosed that the research body plans to lift about 11 million people out of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020 under the refreshed IITA strategy.

Dr Sanginga made this disclosure at the commissioning of the research and training farm of the institute at Ago Owu in Ayedade Local Government Area of Osun State last Thursday.

He stated that under the refreshed strategy, IITA also plans to reclaim 7.5 million hectares of degraded land and put the land into sustainable use, noting that achieving this goal entails IITA expanding its partnership scope and strengthening old partnerships.

Dr Sanginga explained that the Ago-Owu research facility would primarily conduct research on cassava, maize, yam, soybean, banana/plantain and cowpea.

“We will also be using the facility to train Nigerian youths in agribusiness,” he said, adding further that, “This research facility is part of our strategy to take research closer to the people. Our plan is to make this station a one-stop shop where farmers’ needs would be addressed.”

The inauguration of the research farm was performed by the Osun State Governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, and it brings to six the number of such facilities in Nigeria with others located in Onne (Rivers State), Abuja, Mokwa (Niger state), Minjibir (Kano), and Ikenne (Ogun State).

The Ago Owu research station was set up primarily to serve as a research and training facility that will backstop the state’s agricultural programs and offer training support to the youth.

It was also built to mark the 50th anniversary of IITA part of further efforts to expand its research agenda and create impact at farm level and it stands on 205.5 hectares of land donated by Mr Aregbesola in 2015.

Both parties signed an MoU and began investment on the land with the development of roads and other infrastructure.

Governor Aregbesola, in his address at the ceremony, said the research facility will advance research in Osun State with a spinoff effect on other parts of the country.

“We believe that this research facility will train and empower our youth in modern agriculture,” he said.

The inauguration of the research facility also allowed researchers to make presentations on new findings from cassava weed management, breeding, banana breeding and multiplication, cassava processing, and aflasafe—a technology for controlling aflatoxins among others.

There was a presentation of improved seeds of maize, cowpea, soybean, yam, plantain seedlings, and cassava stems for onward distribution to farmers in Osun state.

IITA also gave the Governor some quantities of Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags which provide simple, low-cost method of reducing post-harvest cowpea losses due to insects’ infestations.

Director for Development and Delivery at IITA, Dr Alfred Dixon, in his remarks, said the inauguration of the research facility was a step in the right direction with the potential of bringing many benefits to the people of the state in particular, and the country in general.

He said the research facility would assist the state in accelerating its agricultural reform agenda whose particular focus is on increasing agricultural productivity and job creation.

Established in 1967, IITA is an international agricultural research institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, IITA improves livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resource integrity. The Institute operates in Nigeria and 13 research stations/hubs across sub-Saharan Africa.

Modupe Gbadeyanka

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

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