On 13 May, the University of Ibadan (UI) held a public lecture titled “Recent experiences at IITA to improve the impact of research on improving food systems in Nigeria.” IITA Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery (DDG-P4D), Kenton Dashiell, was the guest lecturer. The lecture focused on promoting food security, sustainable development, and resilience and empowering communities to build future generations.
In his welcome address, UI Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Ezekiel Ayoola highlighted the public lecture’s objective to explore the crucial role of research in enhancing food systems across Africa and to reaffirm the commitment to tackling the pressing issues of food security and sustainability on the continent. He stressed that with the global demand for food continuously rising, innovative, evidence-based solutions are more urgent than ever. He stated, “Research into cultural practices is key to achieving greater productivity, efficiency, and resilience in food systems.”
Ayoola said, “By fostering inquisitive research, new crop varieties can be developed, farming methods improved, and sustainable strategies for combating pests, diseases, and environmental challenges discovered.” He emphasized that the investments made today will profoundly impact the well-being and prosperity of African communities for generations. The University of Ibadan, he assured, is dedicated to leading this crucial mission, utilizing its expertise and resources to drive transformative changes in food production.
He acknowledged the many challenges facing Africa’s food systems, including environmental degradation, climate change, and widespread poverty. Strengthening the commitment to agricultural potential and unlocking scientific innovation is vital to addressing these pressing issues and revolutionizing the agricultural landscape across the continent.
In his presentation, Dashiell explained that over the past 12 years, IITA has transformed from research alone to research and delivering results. This transformation birthed the Partnerships for Delivery (P4D) directorate, which facilitates the transfer of research output to private and public scaling partners.
Dashiell explained how the IITA Business Incubation Platform (BIP), led by CEO Adebowale Akande, helps businesses use research to create new products and services. He emphasized the importance of engaging youths in agriculture and how IITA has leveraged this to scale innovations to government and the private sector and described the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) model that is used to deliver the technologies to African countries and to influence the food systems in partnership with the African Development Bank.
In partnership with the University of Ibadan, IITA offers research opportunities for Masters and PhD students. So far, 121 women and 124 men have completed their Masters’ research, and 22 women and 55 men have finalized their PhD research. Currently, 44 men and 24 women are pursuing their Masters’ degrees, with 26 women and 18 men working on their PhD degrees.
Contributed by Tolulope Olabode
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