{"id":12977,"date":"2026-06-20T12:26:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T12:26:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:03","slug":"iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\/","title":{"rendered":"L'IITA et ses partenaires intensifient leurs efforts pour sauver le manioc indig\u00e8ne africain"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Image<\/a>
Many of Africa’s native cassava varieties are in danger of disappearing because of genetic erosion and other man-made and natural factors.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n

IITA and the Institut de Recherche Agronomique de Guinee (IRAG) stepped up efforts to save native African cassava varieties from genetic erosion with the collection of 73 local cassava varieties from Guinea Conakry, West Africa. These varieties are now conserved under ex situ<\/em>conditions at the IITA’s Genetic Resources Center (GRC) in Ibadan, Nigeria and form part of a safety collection to safeguard the continent\u2019s plant genetic resources. The collecting mission was funded by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, IRAG-Guinea Conakry and IITA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe conservation of local cassava varieties provides hope for future cassava breeding programs and helps guarantee food security in Africa,\u201d says Dominique Dumet, Head of the GRC and Coordinator of the collecting mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many local varieties of cassava, a major staple in Africa and a buffer against food crisis, are threatened by genetic erosion \u2014 a process whereby an already limited gene pool of an endangered species of plant or animal diminishes even more when individuals from the surviving population die out without getting a chance to breed within their endangered low population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Guinea Conakry, for instance, about seven local cassava varieties are fast disappearing. This is risky especially for cassava since it is a clonal crop,\u201d according to Paul Ilona, IITA Senior International Trials Manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both local and improved cassava varieties alike create a robust gene pool, offering choices for breeders in future breeding programs. However, the loss of genes due to the extinction of some local varieties might limit future cassava improvement programs. Besides, the endangered varieties might even hold key traits that could offer possible solutions to hunger and poverty in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ilona says the loss of native cassava varieties might limit the number of genes available for breeders to work with. \u201cAs breeders, anytime we lose (crop) genes, it hurts. That is why the conservation of native cassava varieties at the GRC is important to us,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from cassava, the IITA-GRC holds over 25 000 accessions of major African food crops, including cowpea, yam, soybean, bambara nut, maize, and plantain and banana. The accessions are held in trust on behalf of humanity under the auspices of the FAO. IITA shares these accessions without restriction for use in research for food and agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The collecting mission in Guinea Conakry makes it the fourth country, after Angola, Togo and Benin Republic, to allow IITA to collect and share their germplasm with other countries, since the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture went into force in June 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

###<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pour plus d'informations, veuillez contacter,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Dominique Dumet, d.dumet@cgiar.org<\/a>
Head, Genetic Resources Center
Si\u00e8ge de l'IITA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org<\/a>
Charg\u00e9 de communication d'entreprise (international)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Godwin Atser , g.atser@cgiar.org<\/a>
Charg\u00e9 de la communication d'entreprise (Afrique de l'Ouest)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bureau de la communication
Si\u00e8ge de l'IITA
Ibadan, Nig\u00e9ria<\/p>\n\n\n\n

URL : www.iita.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00c0 propos de l'IITA<\/b>
L'Afrique est confront\u00e9e \u00e0 des probl\u00e8mes complexes qui minent l'agriculture et la vie des populations. Nous d\u00e9veloppons des solutions agricoles avec nos partenaires pour lutter contre la faim et la pauvret\u00e9. Notre recherche pour le d\u00e9veloppement (R4D), maintes fois r\u00e9compens\u00e9e, repose sur une r\u00e9flexion cibl\u00e9e et autoris\u00e9e, ancr\u00e9e dans les besoins de d\u00e9veloppement de l'Afrique subsaharienne. Nous travaillons avec des partenaires en Afrique et au-del\u00e0 pour r\u00e9duire les risques pour les producteurs et les consommateurs, am\u00e9liorer la qualit\u00e9 et la productivit\u00e9 des cultures, et g\u00e9n\u00e9rer de la richesse gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 l'agriculture. L'IITA est une organisation internationale de recherche pour le d\u00e9veloppement sans but lucratif, cr\u00e9\u00e9e en 1967, dirig\u00e9e par un Conseil d'administration et soutenue principalement par le CGIAR.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IITA and the Institut de Recherche Agronomique de Guinee (IRAG) stepped up efforts to save native African cassava varieties from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[32],"news-type":[],"hub":[],"crop":[66],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[187],"class_list":["post-12977","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","hentry","location-nigeria","crop-cassava","item-year-187"],"yoast_head":"\nIITA, partners step up efforts to save native African cassava - IITA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IITA, partners step up efforts to save native African cassava - IITA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IITA and the Institut de Recherche Agronomique de Guinee (IRAG) stepped up efforts to save native African cassava varieties from […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IITA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IITA.CGIAR\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@IITA_CGIAR\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\\\/\",\"name\":\"IITA, partners step up efforts to save native African cassava - IITA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/newint.iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/image_gallery-14-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T12:26:03+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/newint.iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/image_gallery-14-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/newint.iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/10\\\/image_gallery-14-3.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"IITA, partners step up efforts to save native African cassava\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"IITA\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"International Institute of Tropical Agriculture\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png\",\"width\":1788,\"height\":591,\"caption\":\"International Institute of Tropical Agriculture\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/IITA.CGIAR\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/IITA_CGIAR\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/iita\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/IITAPUBLISHING\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"IITA, partners step up efforts to save native African cassava - IITA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\/","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"IITA, partners step up efforts to save native African cassava - IITA","og_description":"IITA and the Institut de Recherche Agronomique de Guinee (IRAG) stepped up efforts to save native African cassava varieties from […]","og_url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\/","og_site_name":"IITA","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IITA.CGIAR","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@IITA_CGIAR","twitter_misc":{"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\/","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\/","name":"IITA, partners step up efforts to save native African cassava - IITA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/image_gallery-14-3.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-20T12:26:03+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/image_gallery-14-3.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/image_gallery-14-3.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-partners-step-up-efforts-to-save-native-african-cassava\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/iita.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"IITA, partners step up efforts to save native African cassava"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/","name":"IITA","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/iita.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#organization","name":"Institut International d'Agriculture Tropicale","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png","width":1788,"height":591,"caption":"International Institute of Tropical Agriculture"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IITA.CGIAR","https:\/\/x.com\/IITA_CGIAR","http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/iita","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/IITAPUBLISHING"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/12977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news-item"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/12977\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12977"},{"taxonomy":"science-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/science-area?post=12977"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=12977"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=12977"},{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=12977"},{"taxonomy":"hub","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub?post=12977"},{"taxonomy":"crop","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/crop?post=12977"},{"taxonomy":"impact-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/impact-areas?post=12977"},{"taxonomy":"item-year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/item-year?post=12977"}],"curies":[{"name":"bien jou\u00e9","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}