IITA has been working in Uganda since 1992. Currently, close to 60 staff and 30 students, are engaged in a wide range of activities to increase productivity of some of the most important food crops such as cassava, bananas and plantains, and coffee, among others. Activities include tackling destructive pests and diseases, researching for crop improvement through breeding and transformation, developing and promoting good farming practices and value chain development and providing advisory services to the government of Uganda.
The IITA Board of Trustees meeting was held in Kampala from 24 to 28 November. The members of the Board and IITA Management had the opportunity to visit some exciting examples of the impacts that IITA-Ug anda research has created for many farmers in the country.
The visitors were invited to participate in a Humidtropics R4D platform meeting that included major partners coming from the District Government, National Research Organizations, Makerere University, CSO, and farmers’ representatives. Over the past years, IITA-Uganda has invested increasingly in agricultural systems analysis. This has led to large multiactor and multi-scale projects such as Humidtropics that engage with policymakers, the private sector, and other decision-makers.
“One of the main bottlenecks to the development of Africa’s rural economy and agriculture sector is the often divergent agenda of the government, private sector, researchers, and NGOs.” said Kwasi Atta- Krah, Director of Humidtropics. “Someone needs to ‘connect the dots‘ to enhance synergy and avoid giving contradictory advice for farmers. Our R4D platforms are filling in here.”
A lively discussion on the involvement of stakeholders in research activities throughout the value chain developed during the meeting, tackling issues such as the participation of the private sector in agribusiness, postharvest research activities, the participation of women, and strategic communication for the development of the platform. “Our way forward is the involvement of more farmers in the R4D platform,” said the chairperson of the Humidtropics platform, Dr Fred Mukulu. “To achieve impact, we have to answer the farmers’ needs.”
Augustine Kigoonya is one of the farmers whose needs were answered by the program. He lives in Naggalama, a village close to Kampala, and is the chairman of a farmers’ group which is made up of 30 farmers engaged in the production of different crops including five indigenous vegetables: African eggplant, spider plant, Amaranthus, Ethiopian mustard, and tomato. The IITA Board of Trustees visited him to see on the ground what impact the research facilitated by the Humidtropics R4D platform would have at the farm level.
“I was working as a shop attendant in Kampala. I had to spend all my money on food, transport, and rent, and would have to run back to my father to ask for some financial help,” said Mr Kigoonya and added, ”Today I can keep a valuable amount as income and I continue to further diversify my crops.” The Board members had the opportunity to follow-up on the farming techniques he is using and were impressed by the produce resulting from them.
Another stop was made at the National Research Laboratories, where IITA researcher Leena Tripathi and partners are finding solutions to the deadly banana disease Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) to which all varieties are susceptible. Breeding of banana and plantain is difficult as they are mostly sterile and no genes of resistance against the disease have been identified. IITA scientists and their partners in Uganda have successfully genetically engineered banana lines resistant to BXW using a gene from sweet red pepper and these are now at the stage of confined field trials. The IITA Management and Board members visited the field trials with great interest.
Leena Tripathi explained, “We took genes from sweet pepper, donated by the patent-holder Academica Sinica Taiwan, and put them into the banana genome. After laboratory trials, and later confined field trials at NARL in Kawanda, we established that some of our new banana lines achieved 100% resistance to BXW through three successive crop cycles. We have just published these results in the world-leading scientific journal Nature Biotechnology, and our approach could have great value to protect other crops in other countries against diseases.”
The Board members took back home the impression of diverse research approaches and impact at scale resulting from the IITAUganda work led by Piet van Asten. “I am glad that IITAUganda directly engages with policy actors and the private sector at local and national level,” said Bruce Coulman, IITA Board Chair, at a reception in Kampala. “Only through collaboration and partnerships can we find the solutions we are looking for. I am extremely happy that this is happening in Uganda.”
For more information, please contact:
Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
About IITA, www.iita.org
IITA is one of the world’s leading research partners in finding solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Its award-winning research for development (R4D) approach addresses the development needs of tropical countries. IITA works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is a nonprofit organization founded in 1967 and governed by a Board of Trustees. IITA works on the following crops: cowpea, soybean, banana/plantain, yam, cassava, and maize. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.
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