IITA and Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology cement their partnership on agriculture research

From left: Prof Burton Mwamila and Dr Ylva Hilbur, signing an agreement on banana research at the university campus in Arusha, Tanzania.

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the pan-African NelsonMandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST)  have further strengthened their collaboration on agriculture research and capacity building in Tanzania by signing an agreement on banana research.

This agreement,  which spells out how the two institutions will work together to tackle the challenges facing banana production in the country,  was recently signed by the IITA Deputy Director General for Research, Dr Ylva Hilbur, and the NM-AIST Vice Chancellor, Prof Burton Mwamila, at a ceremony at the university campus in Arusha, Tanzania.

  Dr Ylva Hilbur, signing the research agreement  

According to the agreement, NM-AIST will avail land to IITA land to conduct banana breeding to develop improved varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases and especially Panama disease (Fusarium) which is devastating banana in the region, and office space for use by the institute’s staff.   

It will also give the institute access to its laboratories and screen houses to conduct banana research.

IITA on its part will provide funds to remodel and refurbish the molecular and tissue culture laboratories including purchasing additional equipment. The institute will also construct a seed extractor and a banana ripening chamber at the university. All these facilities will be open to both the staff and students of the university. 

Prof Mwamila perusing agreement before signing it.

The institute further pledged to conduct training for the staff and students at the university in areas of banana breeding, tissue culture, pest and diseases, and molecular biology among others.

Speaking at the agreement signing event, Prof Mwamila said that the university aspired to become a world-class institution dedicated to the pursuit and promotion of excellence in Science Engineering and Technology (SET) and their applications for economic growth and sustainable development in the region by training and developing world class African scientists and engineers.

He therefore noted that the collaboration with an international agriculture research center such as IITA would be very beneficial towards this end. He further said IITA would support the institute to translate research results into tangible products and policy briefs to enable wealth creation and sustainable development.

On her part, Dr Hilbur who is based at the institute’s headquarters in Ibadan, Nigeria, noted that there were numerous opportunities for IITA to collaborate with NM-AIST in research and in training agriculture researchers.

Group photo: IITA and NM-AIST teams at the event

‘Building capacity of researchers in Africa is a very important component of our work at  IITA. This agreement strengthens our already good collaboration with the university and we are looking forward  to even more collaboration in the future to support the development of the agriculture sector in the country and the region,’ she said. 

IITA's Drs Ylva and Baijukya touring the TC lab

Currently the two institutes are collaborating on research on banana through a project funded by the Flemish Interuniversity Council, on nitrogen fixation in beans, and on controlling aflatoxin, a deadly chemical produced by fungi found in crops such as maize and groundnut. 

The new agreement supplements a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two institutions last year in which they agreed to conduct joint research projects, share scientific information and materials including genetic material for breeding, organize exchange programs, and jointly supervise postgraduate students.

Prof  Swennen showing the banana field trials.

Hilbur was accompanied by amog others IITA Director for Eastern Africa Dr Victor Manyong based at its Eastern Africa office in Dar es Salaam, Head of IITA Arusha Office, Prof Bekunda Mateete and Prof Rony Swennen who heads IITA’s banana breeding program based at Arusha. The signing was also witnessed by key staff of the university.

IITA-led Policy Action on Climate Change project launched in Tanzania

Ms Madete, Deputy PS, Vice-President's Office at the launch 

The four-year project, Policy Action for Climate Change Adaptation (PACCA),  led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change,Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)  was recently launched in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 

Dr Yamungu, Agric ministry deputy PS welcomed the initiative 

The project which seeks to enhance the capacity of the Tanzania Government to develop and implement policies on climate change adaptation in relation to food security is being implemented in both Kenya and Tanzania. In Tanzania the lead partner is the Environmental Management Unit (EMU) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives.

The project was officially launched by the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Vice President’s Office  Ms Angelina E.A. Madete at a stakeholders’ meeting that brought together different actors working in the area of climate change adaptation from the government, NGOs, and international and national research institutes.

Dr Ampaire giving an overview of the PACCA project

Ms Madete noted that the impact and vulnerabilities of climate change were undermining national and local strategies to achieve sustainable development. She observed that the country was particularly vulnerable to climate change due to its dependence on climate sensitive economic sectors such as agriculture and commended the project for tackling this global challenge that demands concrete mitigation and adaptation measures.

“We are all aware of the dangers climate change poses to our country. We have all witnessed heavy rains and floods; prolonged and severe droughts, and landslides. We need to develop and implement integrated strategies expeditiously in the country,” she said.

The project was also welcomed by the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives,  Dr Yamungu Kayandabila, who officiated the closing ceremony of the workshop. He assured all the project partners of the full support of his ministry to tackle climate change and food security issues in the country. 

The project coordinator, Dr Edida Ampaire from IITA Uganda, said the project seeks to strengthen the cooperation between the scientific community and policy actors in formulating policies on climate change.

A cross section of the participants at the event

“The aim of the project is to understand the policy making and implementation processes in the area of climate change and food security in Tanzania and Uganda, identify any gaps, and suggest ways to overcome them. It will also identify appropriate mechanisms to facilitate generation and sharing of knowledge among the different actors working in the area of climate change within and between the two countries,” she said.

During the workshop, the participants identified some of the gaps and areas that the project should address to strengthen climate change policies in Tanzania. Top of the list was the lack of a comprehensive policy on climate change in the country. Currently, issues on climate change are handled under the environmental policy of 2004 under the Vice President’s Office and in the Environmental Management Unit (EMU of the Agriculture Ministry.

Participants at the PACCA-Tanzania chapter launch

Other challenges identified were a general lack of adequate coordination of the different actors working on climate change and food security issues, lack of sharing of knowledge and information, and a general low level of awareness of the importance of climate change across various sectors from the policy makers to the general public. Another gap was linked to inadequate human and financial resources put aside for climate change. The participants also identified the root causes of these problems and made recommendations for further action.

Project boosting legume production to improve soil fertility, N2Africa, launched in Tanzania

N2Africa is seeking to increase the production of legumes such as cowpea, common beans, groundnuts and soybean, among small-holder farmers, due to their ability to enrich soils with Nitrogen and for their nutritive and commercial value.

Trials on the use of fertilizer to boost yield of climbing 

beans in Butere, Western Kenya as part of 

N2Africa Phase one activities.

The Putting Nitrogen Fixation to Work in Africa (N2Africa) project which aims at encouraging smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to grow legumes due to their ability to fix nitrogen from the air into the soils thus improving soil fertility, and for their nutrition and commercial value, has launched its activities in Tanzania.  

N2Africa was officially launched by the Director for Research and Development in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Fildelis Myaka on behalf of the Permanent Secretary Ms Sophia Kaduna at the start of a two-day project planning workshop, from 19 – 20 February in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 

It was hosted by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) ―one of the project’s implementing partners. 

Speaking at the event, Dr Myaka lauded the project for singling out legumes. He said despite their obvious benefit to the country’s food security, employment, and even contribution to GDP, their productivity was low and yields were far below their potential. 

Expanding area under legume production and increasing yield

Dr Fidelis Myaka, Director for Research and Development 

making the opening remarks.He lauded the initiative for  

focusing on legumes.

He attributed the low yield to inadequate application of scientific knowledge by both farmers and development practitioners and other factors. He was therefore pleased to note that N2Africa was working to expand the area and enhance yields of grain legumes through the application of scientific knowledge including the use of improved varieties and rhizobium inoculants to maximize the yield potential of grain legumes. 

“The application of scientific knowledge, especially by smallholder farmers, has always been constrained by poor targeting of the technologies to the diversity of farmers and farming conditions, poor packaging of technologies, and issues relating to input supply and output market. I am aware that N2Africa’s approach puts into consideration all these factors through farming systems analysis to target technologies to the farming conditions of smallholder farmers and through a value chain approach,” he added.

Development for Research model

Other speakers at the forum included the Director of the Project, Prof. Dr Ken Giller from Wagenigen University who gave an overview of the project. Dr Giller said the aim of the project entitled ”Putting Nitrogen Fixation to Work in Africa” aims at increasing the land area cropped with legumes. 

Prof Ken Giller gives an over view of the project.

He said the project was following a Development-for-Research model and was disseminating the already available technologies for legume production such as improved varieties, and use of innoculants. The research would now focus on the challenges farmers were facing in adopting and adapting these technologies in their farming systems. 

Dr Bernard Vanlauwe, IITA’s Director for Central Africa, also at the event, conveyed greetings from IITA’s Director General, Dr Nteranya Sanginga. Dr Vanlauwe noted the initiative was important to IITA as part of its Natural Resource Management activities.

According to Dr Fredrick Baijukya, N2Africa team leader in Tanzania, said the project will be implemented in the Southern, Eastern and Northern parts of the country in Iringa, Ruvuma, Njombe, Lindi, Mtwara, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Shinyanga and Dodoma regions. It will focus on cowpea, common bean, groundnuts and soybean which are amongst the most important legumes in the country.

The project launch brought together a wide diversity of stakeholders from those in legume production, input development, and supplies including seeds and fertilizers, processing, marketing, and regulatory bodies to policy makers.

The project which is now in its second phase is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and led by Wagenigen University. Phase one of the project initiated in 2009 was implemented in DR Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe. The second phase started in January 2014 and will focus on five core countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda but will maintain activities in the other countries under Phase 1. 

N2 Africa target areas for Tanzania

Implementing partners are IITA, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). They will collaborate with the National Agriculture Research Systems and local and international NGOs.