The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and IITA–CGIAR have a long-standing donor-partner relationship with more than half of IITA’s research and delivery projects to reduce hunger and improve livelihoods in Africa funded by the foundation. On 17 April, the new Gates Foundation Country Director for Nigeria, Dr Jeremie Zoungrana, and Senior Program Officer for Agriculture, Dr Audu Grema, visited the IITA Ibadan campus.
The visit—Zoungrana’s first to IITA—was to understand the Institute’s activities and contributions to reducing poverty in Africa. He stated that he and Grema—an IITA alumnus—were on a learning visit to understand and appreciate what IITA, through research, is doing in agriculture.
“We came to see and appreciate the excellent work that IITA is doing across agricultural development that is contributing to improving agricultural transformation in Africa. We also came to learn and update our knowledge on agriculture,” Zoungrana said.
IITA Interim Director General Bernard Vanlauwe shared the Institute’s history with them, highlighting programs established with funding from the Gates Foundation, including Excellence in Agronomy program. He also spoke about the many innovations IITA has developed, including Resilient Maize, Aflasafe, Semi-Autotrophic Hydroponics (SAH) multiplication for cassava, and Nodumax for soybean.
IITA Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery (DDG-P4D), Kenton Dashiell, also shared insights into the IITA Technologies for African Agriculture Transformation (TAAT) clearing house, which was established partly based on Bill Gates’ suggestion to make Aflasafe accessible to every household in Africa. “We are open to your advice on ways to improve our research and delivery outputs,” Dashiell said.
The delegation toured the Institute’s facilities for practical insight into the activities at the Genebank, Yam barns, Cowpea Glass House, SAH screen-house, Aflasafe, Nodumax, and maize field.
Zoungrana expressed how impressed he was, stating that his visit confirmed that the Gates Foundation is making the right investment. He highlighted the excellent innovations IITA is developing, especially on cassava. “SAH was a first discovery for me. IITA has demystified cassava production,” he said.
He appreciated every IITA staff’s passion for their work, believing it would create an impact. He advised IITA to keep up with the good work and always remember the importance of impacting the end-users and ensuring that solutions get to them.
Contributed by Ochuwa Favour Daramola
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