A delegation from the Embassy of Burkina Faso in Nigeria, led by the country’s Ambassador to Nigeria, HE Pascal Gouba, accompanied by Second Counsellor Desire Sawadogo and Head of Protocol, Zakaria Sambare, visited IITA to discuss their country’s interest in partnering with the Institute.

The proposal for a collaborative partnership with IITA follows IITA’s mission trip to some government ministries in Burkina Faso two years ago for potential resource mobilization. “This visit to IITA has been on our priority list for a long time, and we are excited it finally happened,” he said.
IITA Deputy Director General, Corporate Services, Hilde Koper, gave a welcome remark as IITA West Africa Hub Director Prof Michael Abberton gave an overview of IITA research activities in West Africa. Head of IITA Capacity Development Office, Zaïnatou Soré, who represented IITA-Sahel Hub R4D Director Tahirou Abdoulaye, spoke about the Institute’s research activities in the Sahel region.

Ambassador Gouba, who went on a two-day tour of IITA facilities, expressed his pleasure at the robust and diverse research going on at the Institute. “You have to visit IITA to appreciate what this institute is doing in agricultural research,” he said.

“IITA has given a wholesome view to the value-addition approach in agriculture, and it has given us ideas of projects to suggest to the government of Burkina Faso,” he added. He also noted that they would consider both youth and women’s engagement in agribusiness by suggesting a trainer’s training for participants from Burkina Faso by the IITA Youth in Agribusiness Office to enable them to replicate the knowledge and skills in Burkina Faso.
The ambassador appreciated IITA’s hospitality and congratulated the Institute’s management for its leadership model expressed in their professionalism.
Contributed by Dajie Odok
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