By Akanimo Sampson
The United States of America is currently exploring a partnership with international organisations for the Ibadan campus of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
Already, Ms Claire Pierangelo, the US Consul-General, and her team have visited the IITA Ibadan campus in Western Nigeria.
The purpose of the visit on March 11 was for the Consul General to understand the activities of IITA and help in areas of advocacy and partnership with international organisations.
After giving the team a warm welcome, the Acting Director-General, Kwame Akuffo-Akoto, gave a brief introduction of IITA and a video was shown giving an overview of the Institute’s activities.
“We are always happy to welcome our partners,” Akuffo-Akoto says.
Explaining the purpose of their visit, Ms Pierangelo, mentions that the team is interested in knowing areas where the US Consul can advocate for IITA and Nigerian policy that can help farmers and boost the activities of IITA.
“At the end of the day, we want to see your research put into action with better funding”, she adds.
The team was also taken on a tour of the Institute, focusing on the units under the Business Incubation Platform including Aflasafe and Nodumax.
After a brief lecture on the benefits of Nodumax to soybean by Ayodele Alonge, Nodumax and GoSeed Plant Manager, Gerald Smith, Regional Counsellor for USDA Agriculture advised that IITA reach out to soybean farmers in Osun State to encourage increased soybean production through the application of Nodumax.
“Visiting Osun State, I realised that they are looking to scale up in soybean production. Let them know about Nodumax” Smith says.
At the end of the tour, Ms Pierangelo promised to revisit IITA with her public affairs team, to get more information, take pictures, and highlight the activities of IITA on their information page.
