IITA BoT lauds Sanginga-led growth initiatives to transform agric in Africa

For the eighth time, the Board of Trustees (BoT), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has given a vote of confidence and commendation to the institute’s management under the leadership of its Director General, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga.

Board Chair, Dr. Amos Namanga Ngongi, expressed great pleasure over the management and growth of IITA over the last eight years, and in particular, the vast array of agricultural research works currently implemented by IITA in Africa.

The Board also appreciated Sanginga for initiating the: “Start Them Early Program” (STEP)— an intervention designed to take agribusiness studies to primary and secondary school students, engaging them in club participation, course work, and experimental learning.

Other areas of excitement to the Board were the infrastructural development that would drive agricultural research to a higher level. One of the infrastructures is the recently inaugurated IITA Kalambo research station in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and its subsequent renaming as President Olusegun Obasanjo Research Campus in October 2019. The facility now features a first-class tissue culture lab for the multiplication of cassava, banana, cocoa, yam, and potato.