{"id":13167,"date":"2026-06-20T12:26:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T12:26:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:31","slug":"iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\/","title":{"rendered":"IITA highlights diversification, mechanization at Zambia national agricultural show"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Journalist<\/a>
Journalist interviewing Dr David Chikoye regarding IITA and the exhibition<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the context of a changing climate in a primarily monocrop-based agriculture, as well as labor shortage and exit\u2013particularly of the youth\u2013from this sector, we wanted to promote crop diversification and mechanization as avenues for enhancing food security, nutrition, and income and livelihood options for Zambian smallholder farmers and their families.\u201d This was the statement given by Dr David Chikoye, Director of IITA\u2019s Southern Africa Hub, as he explained the theme of IITA\u2019s exhibition at the 2014 National Agricultural and Commercial Show held in Lusaka, Zambia, from 30 July to August 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IITA\u2019s exhibition theme this year is \u201cBreaking new ground in agricultural research-for-development for food security, livelihoods improvement, and climate change mitigation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fact that Zambia is mainly maize based is worrying considering that the effects of climate change\u2013particularly more severe droughts and shorter rainy season\u2013is already taking a heavy toll on smallholder farmers, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future,\u201d Dr Chikoye added. \u201cWithout diversification or alternatives\u2013this is like putting all your eggs in one basket. If the basket breaks, there go all your eggs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut since maize is an intrinsic part of the people\u2019s culture and diets, Zambia cannot do away with it. However, it is imperative that we let farmers know that there are practical and profitable diversification options that could complement maize. For example, in this year\u2019s exhibition, we focused on value chains in cassava, soybean, and cowpea\u2013the other \u2018baskets\u2019 that farmers can put their eggs in\u2013that could go h and-in-h and with maize,\u201d he expounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdditionally, we are also promoting new crop production technologies and mechanization to address the issue of labor shortage in Zambia\u2019s agricultural sector. Most of the country\u2019s youths are now more interested in getting jobs in the cities and urban centers, leaving the fields in the h ands of the older-generation farmers and women. For these youths, they see agriculture as \u2018dirty\u2019 and back-breaking work, which is true given the current state of farm production in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt our exhibition, we wanted to show that \u2018back-breaking\u2019 work should not always be the norm. Technologies, particularly mechanization, already exist to make farming a lot less laborious, less \u2018dirty\u2019, more efficient, and more profitable. We hope that as more farmers are made aware of these technologies and start deploying them in their fields, these will make agriculture more attractive and, consequently, give rise to a whole new generation of Zambian farmers employing modern production technologies,\u201d added Dr Chikoye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lusaka Agricultural and Commercial Show is an annual event in Zambia that draws thous ands of people from all walks of life. The show is considered to be one of the largest in the southern Africa region, with more than 200 exhibitors participating comprising private and public sector players, government entities, NGOs, seed and fertilizer companies, and farmers\u2019 organizations and cooperatives, among many others, and showcasing the state-of-the-art in agricultural research and technologies and related commercial ventures. The IITA exhibition attracted about a thous and visitors during the 5-day event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more details, please contact: Jeffrey T. Oliver, j.oliver@cgiar.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00c0 propos de l'IITA<\/strong> www.iita.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is one of the world\u2019s 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 non-profit organization founded in 1967 in Nigeria 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.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIn the context of a changing climate in a primarily monocrop-based agriculture, as well as labor shortage and exit\u2013particularly of the youth\u2013from this sector, we wanted to promote crop diversification and mechanization as avenues for enhancing food security, nutrition, and income and livelihood options for Zambian smallholder farmers and their families.\u201d This was the statement given by Dr David Chikoye, Director of IITA\u2019s Southern Africa Hub, as he explained the theme of IITA\u2019s exhibition at the 2014 National Agricultural and Commercial Show held in Lusaka, Zambia, from 30 July to August 4…<\/p>","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":[46],"news-type":[],"hub":[],"crop":[],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[192],"class_list":["post-13167","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","hentry","location-zambia","item-year-192"],"yoast_head":"\nIITA highlights diversification, mechanization at Zambia national agricultural show - 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-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IITA highlights diversification, mechanization at Zambia national agricultural show - IITA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cIn the context of a changing climate in a primarily monocrop-based agriculture, as well as labor shortage and exit\u2013particularly of the youth\u2013from this sector, we wanted to promote crop diversification and mechanization as avenues for enhancing food security, nutrition, and income and livelihood options for Zambian smallholder farmers and their families.\u201d This was the statement given by Dr David Chikoye, Director of IITA\u2019s Southern Africa Hub, as he explained the theme of IITA\u2019s exhibition at the 2014 National Agricultural and Commercial Show held in Lusaka, Zambia, from 30 July to August 4...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\/\" \/>\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-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\\\/\",\"name\":\"IITA highlights diversification, mechanization at Zambia national agricultural show - IITA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/newint.iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Dr-David-Chikoye.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T12:26:31+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/newint.iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Dr-David-Chikoye.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/newint.iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Dr-David-Chikoye.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\\\/#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 highlights diversification, mechanization at Zambia national agricultural show\"}]},{\"@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 highlights diversification, mechanization at Zambia national agricultural show - 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-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\/","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"IITA highlights diversification, mechanization at Zambia national agricultural show - IITA","og_description":"\u201cIn the context of a changing climate in a primarily monocrop-based agriculture, as well as labor shortage and exit\u2013particularly of the youth\u2013from this sector, we wanted to promote crop diversification and mechanization as avenues for enhancing food security, nutrition, and income and livelihood options for Zambian smallholder farmers and their families.\u201d This was the statement given by Dr David Chikoye, Director of IITA\u2019s Southern Africa Hub, as he explained the theme of IITA\u2019s exhibition at the 2014 National Agricultural and Commercial Show held in Lusaka, Zambia, from 30 July to August 4...","og_url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\/","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-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\/","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\/","name":"IITA highlights diversification, mechanization at Zambia national agricultural show - IITA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Dr-David-Chikoye.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-20T12:26:31+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Dr-David-Chikoye.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/newint.iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Dr-David-Chikoye.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/iita-highlights-diversification-mechanization-at-zambia-national-agricultural-show\/#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 highlights diversification, mechanization at Zambia national agricultural show"}]},{"@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\/13167","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\/13167\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13167"},{"taxonomy":"science-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/science-area?post=13167"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=13167"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=13167"},{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=13167"},{"taxonomy":"hub","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub?post=13167"},{"taxonomy":"crop","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/crop?post=13167"},{"taxonomy":"impact-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/impact-areas?post=13167"},{"taxonomy":"item-year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/item-year?post=13167"}],"curies":[{"name":"bien jou\u00e9","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}