{"id":18169,"date":"2026-06-20T13:02:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/iita-research-and-delivery-leadership-team-convenes-in-zambia-for-strategic-planning-and-alignment\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T16:52:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T16:52:54","slug":"iita-research-and-delivery-leadership-team-convenes-in-zambia-for-strategic-planning-and-alignment","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-research-and-delivery-leadership-team-convenes-in-zambia-for-strategic-planning-and-alignment\/","title":{"rendered":"IITA research and delivery leadership team convenes in Zambia for strategic planning and alignment"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The IITA research and delivery leadership team during the strategic planning meeting in Zambia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nLe IITA<\/a>\u2019s Research and Delivery leadership team held a quarterly meeting from 24 to 26 June 2025 at the IITA Southern Africa Research and Administration Hub in Lusaka, Zambia. This strategic gathering provided a critical platform for reflection, realignment, and planning around the institute\u2019s research and delivery agenda, especially in light of CGIAR<\/a>\u2018s evolving agenda.\n\nThe meeting brought together Directors and Program Leaders from across Africa, fostering deep dialogue and collaboration around key strategic areas.\n\nDiscussions focused on critical issues with focus on:\n
    \n \t
  • Ensuring that IITA\u2019s research and delivery programs align strategically with CGIAR\u2019s emerging priorities.<\/li>\n \t
  • Initiating a dialogue on how IITA can best position itself to strengthen collaboration, enhance synergies, and maximize impact within the broader CGIAR framework over the next five years.<\/li>\n \t
  • Program effectiveness in delivering relevant research solutions and contributing to IITA\u2019s strategic objectives.<\/li>\n \t
  • Identifying practical and actionable ways to embed climate resilience and nutrition sensitivity across all programs.<\/li>\n \t
  • Exploring concrete strategies to integrate Gender, Youth, and Social Inclusion (GYSI) into every program, making inclusion a central part of planning, implementation, and success measurement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nA cocktail reception was hosted as part of the engagement agenda, bringing together key stakeholders from government ministries, the private sector, and universities.\n\nSpeaking during the event, Dr Chizumba Shepande, from the Zambia Ministry of Agriculture, commended IITA for its contribution to addressing key agricultural challenges in the country. He highlighted IITA-Zambia\u2019s role in supporting the launch of Zambia\u2019s crop diversification strategy, especially in the wake of the mid-season drought experienced during the 2023\u20132024 farming season. The plan aims to promote the production and consumption of diverse crops to enhance national food and nutrition security.\n\n\"\"\n\nThe Deputy Director General Research for Development, Dr Bernard Vanlauwe, reaffirmed the IITA\u2019s commitment to supporting Zambia\u2019s agricultural development. He praised Zambia as a regional leader in leveraging agriculture as a driver of economic transformation.\n\nTo complement the strategic discussions, the leadership team toured IITA-Zambia\u2019s facilities, where they observed modern irrigation demonstrations, mechanization technologies for field operations, and accelerated crop breeding facilities.\n\nThe tour highlighted the practical application of research innovations to improve productivity, resilience, and sustainability across Southern Africa\u2019s agrifood systems.\n\nContributed by Rachel Namukoko Nali<\/em>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The IITA\u2019s Research and Delivery leadership team held a quarterly meeting from 24 to 26 June 2025 at the IITA Southern Africa Research and Administration Hub in Lusaka, Zambia.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":18170,"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 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