{"id":17302,"date":"2026-06-20T12:56:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/awf-chief-impressed-with-iitas-work-on-intensification-for-forest-conservation-in-dr-congo\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T17:02:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T17:02:22","slug":"awf-chief-impressed-with-iitas-work-on-intensification-for-forest-conservation-in-dr-congo","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/awf-chief-impressed-with-iitas-work-on-intensification-for-forest-conservation-in-dr-congo\/","title":{"rendered":"AWF Chief impressed with IITA\u2019s work on Intensification for Forest Conservation in DR Congo"},"content":{"rendered":"Jeff Crisfield, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the\u00a0<a title=\"Visit the African Wildlife Foundation website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.awf.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">African Wildlife Foundation<\/a>\u00a0(AWF) based in Washington, D.C., visited IITA\u2019s sustainable agricultural program in the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba (MLW) landscape in the Equateur Province of DR Congo, accompanied by Charly Facheux, AWF Vice President for Conservation Projects; Jimmiel Mandima, AWF Director of US Government Relations; Brian McBrearity, AWF Managing Director of African Conservation Schools; Grace Wairima, AWF Senior Field Communications Officer; Hugues Akpona, AWF DRC Landscape Manager; Anderson Kehbila, IITA Systems Intensification Project Coordinator; and Tata Hangy, IITA Research Associate.\n<div id=\"attachment_1083\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_COO-impression-on-Cassava.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1083 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_COO-impression-on-Cassava.jpg\" alt=\"Picture of AWF COO Jeff Crisfield, interacting with members of a local village farmer association managed by IITA\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1083\" \/><\/a>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1083\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">AWF COO Jeff Crisfield, interacting with members of a local village farmer association\u00a0managed by IITA<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nJeff witnessed the impact of sustainable agricultural intensification for forest conservation, a program implemented by IITA with financial support from\u00a0<a title=\"Visit the United States Agency for International Development website\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usaid.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USAID<\/a>\u00a0through AWF. \u201cI have been involved in programs like this for years,\u201d Jeff explained. \u201cI am very impressed by this one. This is the sort of thing that AWF and its partner IITA should be doing \u2013 it is about improving the life and the wellbeing of people while at the same time conserving biological diversity.\u201d\n\nDuring his visit, Jeff met with Baka Hermes, the president of a farmer association \u2013 Motema Pembe. Hermes, now fully committed, organized a group of 30 farmers from his village and floated the idea of community agricultural intensification, which was galvanized into action. Best agronomic methods were demonstrated and then implemented. The results were beyond expectation. With cassava fresh root yield exceeding 35 tons per hectare, farmers like Hermes are well on their way to turning around their fortunes on the same piece of land, thus conserving the forest and associated biodiversity. After the visit, the AWF team returned to Kinshasa for further deliberations on the way forward.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jeff Crisfield, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) based in Washington, D.C., visited IITA\u2019s sustainable agricultural program in the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba (MLW) landscape in the Equateur Province of DR Congo.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":17303,"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":[34],"news-type":[],"hub":[63],"crop":[],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[194],"class_list":["post-17302","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-democratic-republic-of-congo","hub-central-africa","item-year-194"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - 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