IITA celebrates 50 years and looks forward to the next 50

[IBADAN] Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture has vowed to keep searching for solutions to African food and nutrition security challenges over the next half century.

“This new paradigm will strengthen the foresight and future dimension of agriculture research to address the challenges of climate change, impacts from extreme climatic events such as floods and droughts,” Kwesi Atta-Krah, the chairman of IITA’s 50th anniversary celebrations, told journalists during a media meeting in Ibadan on 22 June.

He said IITA will build strong collaborations with African governments and other partners to help it address agricultural challenges. African agriculture needs to intensify, he said: “As we move into the future we aim to work towards making agriculture a key engine for growth in national economies. In this regard, we would continue to advance and research the case of agriculture as a business at multiple levels, with special focus on the smallholder farmer.”