IITA has formalized collaboration on agriculture research with the Kenya Agriculture Research Institute (KARI) as part of efforts to find sustainable solutions to the problems affecting the agriculture sector in the country.
The Directors General of the two institutions signed a memor andum of underst anding that spells out the various areas of collaboration at KARI in Loresho last 24 March.
Speaking at the event, Dr Ephraim Mukisira, KARI Director General, noted that Kenya faces immense agricultural challenges that the institute is seeking to address through science and technology.
He said that partnership with an international research institute such as IITA would go a long way in complementing and building on these efforts.
Dr Mukisira cited some of the areas of collaboration that are making a difference, which include efforts to reduce aflatoxin contamination in maize, the key staple in the country, and controlling diseases of cassava and banana.
“With this new partnership agreement, we will go even further in our efforts to secure food and livelihoods of smallholder farmers,” he said.
Meanwhile, IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga noted the importance of partnership with national agriculture research institutes such as KARI in achieving IITA’s target of lifting 11 million people in sub-Saharan Africa out of poverty.
He said that IITA is committed to the collaboration and that concrete action should follow the signing of the MoU in areas such as training, capacity building, and joint research projects. Afterwards, he tasked the Directors for Eastern Africa and Central Africa, Victor Manyong and Bernard Vanlauwe, who were at the signing ceremony, to ensure that concrete action is taken in the next few month to keep the momentum going.
The MoU provides a framework that spells out how the two institutions will work together. Other areas of collaboration included sharing of scientific information, technologies and material, and undertaking joint agriculture research projects, among others.
The singing of the MoU was witnessed by important guests such as Dr Florence Wambugu, Director of Africa Harvest, and Dr Dennis Kyetere, head of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), and IITA and KARI staff.
Wambugu hailed the collaboration, saying it was “a new dawn for agriculture research in the continent through IITA’s new revitalized and refreshed strategy and the CGIAR reforms. She said that partners are now seeing new and better partnerships.
Catherine Njuguna, East and Central Africa Regional Communications Officer, c.njuguna@cgiar.org
About IITA www.iita.org
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is one of the world’s leading research partners in finding solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Its award-winning research for development (R4D) approach addresses the development needs of tropical countries. IITA works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is a non-profit organization founded in 1967 in Nigeria and governed by a Board of Trustees. IITA works on the following crops: cowpea, soybean, banana/plantain, yam, cassava, and maize. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.
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