IFAD Country Director seeks stronger ties with IITA

9 September 2022

A five-member delegation from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), led by the newly appointed Country Director, Ekou Dede, paid a courtesy visit to IITA Abuja. The visit created an opportunity for the IFAD and IITA teams to discuss issues of mutual benefit.

Head of IITA Abuja Station Professor Lateef Sanni briefed the delegation on IITA’s work, which spans over fifty years, highlighting the achievements of transformation technologies and modern best practices recorded. Sanni and the IITA Project leaders who were present organized an interactive session to showcase their works.

In her remarks, Dede congratulated everyone for the technically impressive presentations despite the short notice. “Your presentations have expanded our understanding of the ground-breaking results that the various projects are undertaking. This meeting has helped shed light on multiple pathways we could take to deepen our partnership through program or policy work.  Our key priorities are youth inclusion, gender transformation, market access, and innovative agronomic practices to boost farmers’ productivity, resilience, income, and nutrition-sensitive agriculture,” she said.

She also emphasized prioritizing one or two areas for deeper collaboration. She said the IFAD delegation would be pleased to continue learning about the progress made by the IFAD-financed agribusiness hub project and looks forward to leveraging the results in other youth-oriented initiatives.

“IITA is excited about the prospects of working with you in the areas you have highlighted. I also want to reassure you that our team is always ready and willing to share more details about the agribusiness hub project that is being funded by your organization,” Prof. Sanni said.

Contributed by Terngu Abur