{"id":17917,"date":"2026-06-20T13:00:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/afdb-to-strengthen-strategic-partnerships-with-iita-in-nigeria\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T16:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T16:56:11","slug":"afdb-to-strengthen-strategic-partnerships-with-iita-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/afdb-to-strengthen-strategic-partnerships-with-iita-in-nigeria\/","title":{"rendered":"AfDB to strengthen strategic partnerships with IITA in Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dr
Dr Simeon Ehui with AfDB Director General for Nigeria, Dr Abdul Kamara and AfDB Chief Agro-Industry Officer, Dr Chukwuma Ezedinma during discussions.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a bid to advance partnership efforts between IITA<\/a>\u2013CGIAR<\/a> et le Banque Africaine de D\u00e9veloppement (BAD)<\/a>, the Director General for Nigeria, Dr Abdul Kamara, accompanied by AfDB Chief Agro-Industry Officer, Dr Chukwuma Ezedinma, met with IITA Director General and CGIAR Regional Director for Continental Africa, Dr Sim\u00e9on Ehui<\/a>, at IITA headquarters in Ibadan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This engagement emphasized the importance of collaboration in advancing food security and agricultural transformation across Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcoming Dr Kamara, Dr Ehui expressed enthusiasm for the visit. \u201cIt\u2019s a pleasure to have the AfDB team at IITA. Beyond our professional relationship, I am proud of Dr Kamara\u2019s leadership in this critical role for our shared vision of a food-secure continent,\u201d Dr Ehui remarked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visit underscored IITA’s contributions to agricultural research and innovation. The delegation explored cutting-edge work in cassava, maize, food safety (including biocontrol innovations like Aflasafe), youth engagement, and the Technologies pour la Transformation Agricole en Afrique (TAAT)<\/a> program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The IITA research and Management teams during discussions with the AfDB team.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Kamara commended IITA’s efforts, emphasizing the need to align research outputs with scalable innovations while addressing challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must think ahead\u2014exploring opportunities for future programs like TAAT 3 and integrating gender and climate considerations into our efforts,\u201d he stated. He highlighted the significance of program preparation and feasibility studies to maximize impact, noting, \u201cIt\u2019s not just about funding; it\u2019s about ensuring tangible outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Ezedinma commended IITA\u2019s progress over the years and advocated for a focus on scaling innovations and formalizing approaches to transform agriculture. He also stressed the importance of leveraging lessons from previous initiatives, such as State Project Implementation Units (SPIUs) and Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs), to inform future programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dr
Dr Simeon Ehui with AfDB Director General for Nigeria, Dr Abdul Kamara, AfDB Chief Agro-Industry Officer, Dr Chukwuma Ezedinma, and some members of IITA Management team.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the brief from some of IITA\u2019s researchers present at the meeting, Dr Ehui said IITA is focused on leveraging strategic partnerships to scale innovations that can transform the food systems\u2019 landscape. AfDB is one of the significant allies the institute has worked closely with over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking at ways to further streamline collaborations with IITA, Dr Kamara said his office will dedicate a focal point to ensure seamless interactions. Speaking on youth engagement, he commended the IITA Youth program, adding that youth-led agribusinesses need business-friendly loan rates and entrepreneurship ecosystems that will strengthen agriculture value chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a tour of IITA\u2019s facilities, during which the visitors saw first-hand some of the existing technologies at IITA, Dr Kamara highlighted the importance of scaling and market access for technologies like Aflasafe and the need to leverage partnerships with policymakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on engaging the government and policymakers, Dr Ehui said this is necessary for innovation to scale and impact, as state actors are critical in the process of scaling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussions also focused on soil systems, climate change, food safety, nutrition, and seed systems. \u201cWe can take advantage of the existing technologies at IITA to make the change that we all seek to transform Africa and the lives of millions,\u201d Dr Ehui said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reaffirmed AfDB\u2019s commitment to impactful partnerships with IITA, envisioning transformative results for Nigeria and the broader continent, \u201cI look forward to working with IITA to bridge critical gaps and drive change in Africa\u2019s agricultural landscape,\u201d Dr Kamara added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This visit reinforced the shared commitment of IITA and AfDB to harness innovative solutions, foster collaboration, and scale impact to ensure sustainable food systems across Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contributed by \u2019Timilehin Osunde.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a bid to advance partnership efforts between IITA-CGIAR and the African Development Bank (AfDB).<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":17918,"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":[61],"crop":[],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[202],"class_list":["post-17917","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-nigeria","hub-western-africa","item-year-202"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/17917","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":3,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/17917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20484,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/17917\/revisions\/20484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17917"},{"taxonomy":"science-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/science-area?post=17917"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=17917"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=17917"},{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=17917"},{"taxonomy":"hub","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub?post=17917"},{"taxonomy":"crop","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/crop?post=17917"},{"taxonomy":"impact-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/impact-areas?post=17917"},{"taxonomy":"item-year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/item-year?post=17917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}