Ibadan, Nigeria—The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has named Dr Nteranya E. Sanginga as the new director general.
“Dr Sanginga was selected from an outst anding group. His achievements in reinvigorating the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TBSF) of the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), and tropical experience make him an ideal choice to take on the much broader task of guiding IITA into the next decade,” says Dr Bryan Harvey, chair of IITA’s board, today.
“We are confident that under his administration IITA will continue the outst anding work the Institute does in improving the lives of the tropical people in Africa and throughout the world,” he adds.
Currently serving as the director of the Nairobi-based CIAT-TBSF, Dr Sanginga has more than 21 years of experience with the University of Zimbabwe, IITA, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Austria, and CIAT-TSBF, in agricultural research and development, particularly in the fields of applied microbial ecology, plant nutrition, and integrated natural resources management in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
Born and bred in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Dr Sanginga did most of his postgraduate training at IITA and his PhD in Agronomy/Soil Microbiology under a joint program between IITA and the Institut Facultaire des Sciences Agronomiques, Yangambi, DRC.
He has extensive skills in research management, developing partnerships and institutional linkages, and institution building. Under his leadership, the CIAT-TSBF portfolio rose from $1.2 million in 2003 to over $14.5 million in 2010, and its research-for-development agenda exp anded from focusing on western Kenya to covering the major agroecosystems of east, central, and southern Africa.
He has also played a major role in the creation of the Consortium for Improving Agriculture-based Livelihood in Central Africa (CIALCA) that includes three international research centers (IITA, CIAT-TSBF, and Bioversity), university partners in Belgium, national research and development partners in DRC, Burundi, and Rw anda.
His career has also focused on building the capacity of young scientists in Africa. He has trained more than 30 PhD c andidates at the National University of Congo, School of Agriculture and University of Zimbabwe, who now hold leadership positions in their countries.
Prior to transferring to CIAT-TBSF, Dr. Sanginga spent 14 years in IITA in various capacities, including principal scientist and head of the soil microbiology unit; project coordinator of Improvement of high intensity food and forage crop systems and Short fallow systems to arrest l and degradation due to l and use intensification; and leader of the multidisciplinary program Improving and intensifying cereal-legume systems in the moist and dry savannas of West and Central Africa, collaborating with many scientists in national and international institutions.
In his presentation to the Board, Dr Sanginga said that as the new DG, he will organize and strengthen IITA’s research and research partnerships, building on its past achievements and enhancing its scientific and administrative capacity to deliver on its mission of “increasing agricultural production, food security, and income in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Dr Sanginga will succeed Dr Peter Hartmann whose tenure will end on 31 October 2011. The new director-general will assume office effective 1 November 2011.
END
For more information, please contact:
Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (West Africa & Central Africa)
Catherine Njuguna, c.njuguna@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (East & Southern Africa)
Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (International)
IITA – Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria
About IITA
IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization established in 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of tropical countries.
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