By Jimoh Babatunde

Increasing research quality, building partnerships, and enhancing capacities to generate impact at the farm level will form the major agenda of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in the years ahead, according to Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, IITA’s new Director General.

The new focus is aimed at confronting the emerging challenges to food security and livelihoods in tropical countries including climate change and the degradation in soils and other natural resources.

“Equally important is IITA’s internal organization,” says Sanginga during a welcome address to staff.

According to him, improving the quality of research on a continuous basis will enable the institute to retain and maintain its position as the top agricultural research-for-development (R4D) organization in Africa.

“This is imperative,” he says.

In its 44 years of existence, IITA led research on the control of cassava mealybug (a cassava pest) that generated benefits worth between $15.6 and $27.8 billion based on 2004 estimates.

The institute has, over the years, developed several improved varieties of cowpea, banana and plantain, cassava, yam, soybean, and maize.

These varieties are transforming the lives of farmers, enhancing wealth and guaranteeing food security especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

Currently about 60% of the maize grown in West and Central Africa comes from IITA varieties.