Partners from the Regional Center of Excellence against Hunger and Malnutrition (CERFAM), Côte d’Ivoire, visited IITA-CGIAR on 20 November. Established through a partnership between Côte d’Ivoire’s government and the UN World Food Program (WFP), CERFAM aims to combat hunger and malnutrition across Africa.
Titilayo Falade, IITA Food Safety Scientist and Coordinator of the Food Safety for Africa Project, and a team of scientists, lecturers, and researchers working on the HealthyDiets4Africa Project received the partners at the IITA headquarters in Ibadan. In a brief meeting with IITA Deputy Director General Partnerships for Delivery, Kenton Dashiell, the CERFAM team stated the purpose of their visit, which was to gather and learn best practices to replicate in other regions of their engagement.
Sapna Gorajia, CERFAM’s Programme Policy and Partnerships Officer, said, “We are meeting stakeholders to learn from their best practices. Within the HealthyDiets4Africa Project, we aim to gather insights to improve our interventions in countries that need them most. We map and monitor partner policies while ensuring effective communication and visibility for shared initiatives.” Accompanying her was Leslie Kouadio, CERFAM’s Communication Advocacy and Marketing Officer.
Dashiell emphasized the critical importance of nutrition-focused research. “All our efforts—whether in crop breeding, storage, mechanization, or processing—must ultimately benefit the health and nutrition of millions of Africans,” he stated, drawing from his extensive experience in agricultural research, partnerships, delivery, and his passion for nutrition. He highlighted CGIAR’s cross-institutional nutrition program, encouraging further collaborations between CERFAM and IITA.
Further discussions on food safety and IITA’s interventions with focus on biocontrol measures gave the opportunity for aligning some areas of mutual interests.
This was followed by a tour of the institute to see activities at the laboratories and fields related to the project and living labs at the Akinyele Abattoir, Entojutu Sustainable Development Foundation and Harvestfield Industries Limited. Thereafter, the team visited IITA Benin station to see the activities at the station and with living lab partners. These initiatives showcase IITA’s commitment to sustainable agriculture and food security.
By the end of the visit, both teams reaffirmed their commitment to shared goals. The CERFAM team seeing IITA’s groundbreaking work is poised to replicate successful models across Africa. For both organizations, the collaboration underscores the power of partnerships in driving the fight against hunger and malnutrition—a mission critical to the continent’s future.
Contributed by Folake Oduntan
Related Stories:
https://www.iita.org/news-item/iita-and-wfp-strengthen-ties-to-achieve-a-world-free-from-hunger/
Contributed by
Recent stories