When Adeoluwa Modupe left an IITA yam farmers’ training earlier this year, she did more than take home new knowledge. She took it to the farm. Today, about two acres of her 10-acre farm in Alaarin, Elekuru Farm Settlement,…
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Western Africa
What makes a good cassava variety? For farmers, it may be high yield,early maturing, excellent plant architecture ,variety conversion ratios, product suitability and quality food properties after processing.For processors, it goes further—, how well does the cassava perform when…
Western Africa
Healthy soils, stronger food systems: How science is powering Sierra Leone’s ‘Feed Salone’ agenda
For decades, farmers, researchers, and policymakers in Sierra Leone have worked with limited and outdated soil information, making it difficult to determine where crops perform best, what nutrients are needed, and how fertilizer/other input investments can deliver the…
Western Africa
When citizen science strengthens breeding: Award-winning research provides new evidence of tricot’s social impact
When farmers participate in crop breeding as citizen scientists, their knowledge and experience can shape which varieties are advanced and released. But participation can also strengthen farmers’ own knowledge, agency and leadership—capacities that can, in turn, make breeding…
Sahel Western Africa
From sample to science: Strengthening the laboratory backbone of soil health in West Africa and the Sahel
When farmers receive fertilizer recommendations, they rarely see the scientists who spent days analyzing soil samples to produce it. When countries talk about boosting food production or building climate-resilient agriculture, the conversation hardly starts with laboratories. Yet it should.…
Western Africa
AUC, CAADP-XP4, and CGIAR renew Continental partnership to strengthen knowledge systems at AASW9
Knowledge is increasingly recognized as one of Africa’s most valuable agricultural resources, not only for generating innovations, but also for ensuring that proven solutions reach the last-mile users—smallholder farmers—that need those most. Against this backdrop, continental partners have…
IITA–CGIAR recently hosted the renowned ecotourism ambassadors – the Oguntoye twins, founders of Twins Tourism, and hosts of the popular Travel with the Twins radio program on Lagelu FM, just days after they exchanged wedding vows with the identical…
Western Africa
When the rains no longer follow the rules: The push to connect farmers with climate solutions
For more than 16 years, maize farmer Oyeniyi Julius in the Akufo farm settlement, Ido LGA, relied on experience to guide his farming decisions. Like many smallholder farmers in Oyo State, he understood the rhythm of the seasons. He…