British Deputy High Commissioner in Nigeria, Ben Llewellyn-Jones, visited IITA–CGIAR accompanied by the High Commission’s Head of Prosperity, Kris Camponi, and Senior Advisor, Wale Adebajo, from 17 to 18 November. The delegation discussed IITA’s long-standing contribution to the development of African agriculture, how the UKAid with HarvestPlus is helping scale biofortified seeds and food products to end-users, and ways to contribute further to the enhancement of food and nutrition security in Africa.
IITA West Africa Hub Director and Head of Genetic Resources Center (GRC), Michael Abberton, welcomed the team and highlighted IITA’s focus on four broad areas of agricultural research and delivery—Crop improvement (breeding, biotech, and seed systems), Natural Resources Management (soil, agronomy, plant health, and plant production), Social Sciences, and Agribusiness. He added that the Institute utilizes funding from various partners for research, scaling, and delivery. IITA’s Partnerships for Delivery (P4D) ensures its Research for Development (R4D) output is scaled to impact more beneficiaries positively.
Abberton briefed the team about the One CGIAR initiative designed to integrate the efforts of all research centers under the CGIAR.
In his response, Llewellyn-Jones said the UK Government has a long-standing history of working with IITA. He said they are keen to learn about IITA’s contribution to climate-smart agriculture, floods, and fertilizer; and to follow progress on the recent UKAid grant with HarvestPlus.
The two groups examined the challenges, shortfalls, and gaps in the current landscape of African agriculture and discussed possible engagement options to tackle them. Abberton shared both failed and successful projects of IITA’s work driving sustainable development and food and nutrition security in Africa.
IITA Forest Center Field Supervisor, Ademola Ajayi, highlighted the Institute’s efforts in natural resource conservation and advancing agricultural development. Ajayi said the Forest Center does this through environmental education designed to develop love and respect for nature in school children and adults. The Forest Center also contributes to mitigating climate change through its reforestation projects sponsored by national and international donors. The team wrapped up their visit with a tour of IITA Lake for a brief bird-watching activity.
Contributed by Folake Oduntan
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