Special bulletin: 6th Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), Nairobi, Kenya - September 2016

The CGIAR

No. 2345

September 2016

Note

IITA

Special bulletin: 6th Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), Nairobi, Kenya

On 5–9 September, all roads led to Nairobi, Kenya, for several important events involving IITA.

IITA joins efforts to secure Africa’s rise through Agriculture Transformation at the 2016 AGRF

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epresentatives from IITA joined the over 1,500 dignitaries from 40 countries gathered at the 6th Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) held 9–12 September in Nairobi, Kenya, to brainstorm on how to achieve economic development in Africa through transformation of the agriculture sector.

The successful event saw African governments represented by the Kenyan and Rwanda presidents, HE President Uhuru Kenyatta and HE President Paul Eliud Kiplimo Kireger, the Director General/CEO of KALRO.

More than 1,500 delegates attended the opening session of the 2016 AGRF.

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Kagame, Cabinet Ministers, and senior government officials from more than 20 African countries renew their commitment to their agriculture transformation agenda to meet the goals of the 2014 Malabo Declaration and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A whopping US$30 billion was further committed to support Africa’s Agricul­ture Transformation Agenda by the Kenyan government and development partners such as the African Development Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, Kenya

The panel, with (L-R) Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, and Her Excellency Rhoda Tumusiime, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Union Commission. The facilitator is Kenya Commercial Bank Group CEO & MD Joshua Oigara (far left).

Commercial Bank (KCB) Group, the World Food Programme, Yara International ASA, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The theme of this year’s AGRF was “Seize the Moment: Securing Africa’s Rise through Agricultural Transformation.” This was in line with the campaign “Seize the Moment” that was launched at the 12th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP Partnership Platform meeting in Accra, Ghana, in April 2016.

“While African agriculture has seen significant progress in the last 10 years, a lot more still needs to be done to enable African countries to achieve inclusive economic development,” said Agnes Kalibata, AGRA President, during the official opening ceremony.

IITA showcases aflasafe KE01™ and transformation research to top officials of USAID and Kenya Agriculture Ministry

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ITA was one of the three CGIAR centers invited to showcase its technologies/ research efforts to top officials from Kenya’s Agriculture Ministry and USAID that included the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries, Hon. Willy Bett and the USAID Assistant to the Administrator Bureau of Food Security, Beth Dunford.

This was at an event at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) in Nairobi, Kenya, to launch a National Horticulture Traceability System for the country held on 12 September.

IITA presented two technologies which had received support from USAID. These were aflasafe KE01™, an innovative technology to control aflatoxin in Kenya, and transformation of banana for resistance to banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW).

Listening keenly to IITA’s Ranajit Bandyopadhyay (right): (L-R) KALRO Director Eliud Kiplimo Kireger, Kenya’s Agriculture Cabinet Secretary, Hon. Willy Bett, and USAID’s Beth Dunford.

Agriculture–Agriculture Research Services (USDA-ARS). IITA in partnership with USDA-ARS and support from USAID has led in the efforts to adapt it to Africa. In At the event, Eliud Kiplimo Kireger, Kenya, IITA and KALRO have developed Director General/CEO of KALRO, noted a local product called aflasafe KE01™ the complementary relationship between and are putting up a modular plant for its CGIAR centers and KALRO in developing manufacture in KALRO Katumani. The and transferring beneficial technologies plant will also serve the whole East African to farmers. He further praised the two region,” he said. technologies showcased by IITA which he “IITA in partnership with KALRO and said were addressing serious challenges Uganda’s National Agriculture Research facing the farming communities in the Organization (NARO) is developing country and East and Central African region. transgenic banana varieties resistant to “Aflasafe KE01™ is a revolutionary biocontrol bacterial wilt disease, which is a deadly product, which consistently reduces disease devastating banana production in aflatoxin in treated food and feed by 80– Kenya and East Africa. KALRO with IITA will 99%. The technology was first developed be testing these banana in a confined field by the United States Department of trial in Busia soon,” Kireger said.

IITA Bulletin 2345

Kenya is a hotspot for aflatoxin contamination with reported multiple aflatoxicosis outbreaks often resulting in fatalities. For example, in 2004 over 100 people in the country died after consuming highly contaminated maize.

The team from IITA was led by Director General Nteranya Sanginga; Deputy Director General for Partnership for Delivery Kenton Dashiell; Kenya Country Representative and Deputy Director for Eastern Africa Leena Tripathi; IITA’s Principal Pathologist and Aflasafe Project Leader Ranajit Bandyopadhyay; and Aflasafe Project Leader for East Africa Charity Mutegi. Afterwards IITA and KALRO signed a Technology Transfer Agreement on aflasafe Ke01™. (See separate story on page 4.) page 2

TAAT & ENABLE: major initiatives in the Africa Transformation Agenda

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fDB President Akinwumi Adesina pledged US$24 billion to mobilize the private sector to support the transformation of the continent’s agriculture sector over the next 10 years. This also includes initiatives such as the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) and the Empowering Novel Agri-BusinessLed Employment (ENABLE) Youth initiative. IITA is a major partner and implementer in the two initiatives.

“TAAT is a bold $800 million effort across Africa to scale up available technologies to transform key agricultural value chains. It is a public–private partnership linking governments, international agriculture researchers—IITA is helping us spearhead this—national and regional research institutions, the private sector, and farmers,” Adesina said during the event’s opening ceremony.

The well-represented IITA team was led

by IITA DG Nteranya Sanginga, and Ylva Hillbur and Kenton Dashiell, IITA

AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina made history as the first Nigerian president of the AfDB group.

Deputy Director Generals for Research and Development and for Partnership for Delivery, respectively. Other IITA staff present were Chrys Akem, SARDSC Project Coordinator; Kristina

Roing de Nowina, Head of the Project Administration and Development Unit (PADU); and Laurence Jassogne, a Systems Agronomist based at IITAUganda.

IITA participates in CGIAR exhibition

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ITA took part in a CGIAR-wide exhibition at the 2016 AGRF. Other centers included ILRI, CIP, CIAT, and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change and Food Security (CCAFs). At the exhibition and in line with the AGRA theme, IITA showcased two of the technologies from its Business Incubation Platform (BIP)— Aflasafe and Nodumax, and the Youth

Agripreneurs Program. NoduMax is a new legume inoculant for soybean developed at the BIP together with the N2Africa Project, whereas Aflasafe is an innovative biocontrol technology for controlling aflatoxin contamination in food and feed.

IITA Youth Agripreneurs from Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania, also took part in the exhibition, showcasing their products

such as cassava flour and products made from cassava flour, fish feed, and soymilk and soymilk yoghurt.

The exhibition was co-funded by the Central and Eastern Africa Hub in collaboration with the Communication Office.

The next AGRF will take place in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in 2017.

Left: Veronica Kichanta and Julius Muli, IITA Agripreneurs fromTanzania and Kenya, respectively, at the IITA stand, CGIAR exhibition. Right: IITA display of information materials and products.

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IITA and KALRO agree to jointly manufacture and market aflasafe KE01™ to reduce aflatoxin contamination in Kenya

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ITA and the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) have agreed to jointly manufacture and market aflasafe Ke01™, a revolutionary biocontrol product, which consistently reduces aflatoxin in treated food and feed by 80–99%–in Kenya for an initial period of five years.

This was after the Director Generals of the two institutions—IITA’s Nteranya Sanginga and KALRO’s Eliud Kiplimo Kireger—signed a Technology Transfer & Licensing Agreement on 12 September at the KALRO offices in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Agreement will facilitate the production and distribution of the natural, safe, and cost-effective technology in the country to reduce future contamination of maize by the killer aflatoxin to secure the food and income of millions of small-scale farmers in Kenya.

The biocontrol technology was first developed by the United States Department of Agriculture–Agriculture Research Services (USDA-ARS). IITA has partnered with USDA-ARS and many other national partners to adapt and improve it in Africa.

IITA, USDA-ARS, and KALRO developed aflasafe KE01™ and the product was officially registered by the Pest Control Products Board (PCPB) on 29 June 2015. KALRO, on behalf of the partners, is the registration holder.

IITA and KALRO had earlier signed an agreement to construct an aflasafe modular manufacturing plant at the KALRO-Katumani campus in Machakos county. The plant is expected to be operational by end-2016 so that farmers will have access to the product in the 2017 planting season.

IITA DG Sanginga thanked the KALRO DG for the support and collaboration in developing the technology which in turn had attracted support from donors such as USAID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USDA-Foreign Agriculture Service, the Meridian Institute (on behalf of the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development), and others in the construction of the modular plant.

“This agreement reinforces the great collaboration we have with your team. We are looking forward to the completion of the plant and have it up and running so we can have aflasafe KE01™ distributed far and wide in the country,” said Sanginga.

“We are committed to this collaboration and will make it work for the benefit of the smallholder farmers in Kenya and beyond,” assured Kireger.

According to the agreement IITA and KALRO will together produce aflasafe KE01™ at the modular plant for five years as IITA provides technical backstopping and training to KALRO staff. After this, KALRO will have the option to gradually take over the plant.

Kenya suffers from widespread contamination of food and feed with aflatoxins—a carcinogenic fungal toxin that has serious negative consequences on health, trade, and food security. In recent years, the country has experienced multiple aflatoxicosis outbreaks, often resulting in fatalities.

Aflatoxin is produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus. However, not all strains of the fungus produce the toxins.

The biocontrol technology introduces strains of the nontoxic fungus in the fields where they outcompete and reduce the population of the toxic

DGs Kireger (KALRO) and Sanginga (IITA) sign agreement.

ones, therefore drastically reducing contamination.

“Kenya is currently importing aflasafe KE01™ from IITA-Nigeria making it costly. So the plant in Kenya will make it cheaper and affordable,” said Ranajit Bandyopadhyay, IITA’s principal pathologist and Aflasafe project leader, who was also at the signing event.

The signing of the agreement was witnessed by the top management staff from the two institutions including KALRO’s Deputy Director General in charge of crops, Felister Makini; Deputy Director General in charge of livestock, Joseph Mureithi; Director of Cropping Systems, Lusike Wasilwa; and the head of Communications, Virginia Ndungu. IITA was also represented by Deputy Director General for Partnership for Delivery Kenton Dashiell; Kenya Country Representative and Deputy Director for Eastern Africa Leena Tripathi; and aflasafe project leader for East Africa Charity Mutegi.

The KALRO team had earlier visited IITA-Nigeria to see the first Aflasafe manufacturing plant in Africa at IITA Headquarters in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Left: DGs Kireger (KALRO) and Sanginga shaking hands after the signing. Right: IITA staff (from left) including Sanginga, Ranajit Bandyopadhyay, Charity Mutegi, and Kenton Dashiell in a light moment.

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IITA alumnus wins first Africa food prize

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anayo Nwanze, President of IFAD, and an IITA alumnus, was awarded the inaugural Africa Food Prize at the African Green Revolution Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, on 7 September. In receiving the award, Nwanze said he was dedicating it to “the millions of African women who silently toil to feed their families.”

The Africa Food Prize Committee chaired by Olusegun Obasanjo, IITA Ambassador and former President of Nigeria, selected Nwanze for his IFAD President, Kanayo Nwanze. Source: https://yaraurl.com/9otq outstanding leadership and passionate advocacy in putting Africa´s smallholder The Prize recognizes Nwanze for his As an advocate for rural communities, farmers at the center of the global individual leadership, but also for the Nwanze has consistently called on agricultural agenda. results of successful efforts at IFAD leaders to keep food security and in the years he has been at the helm. agriculture at the center of development “Nwanze is a model for how a great Despite a major global economic and budgetary priorities. leader can make a difference in downturn, he succeeded in growing the lives of people on the ground,” By positioning IFAD as a major the Fund´s overall resources, with said Obasanjo. “Whether that leader knowledge institution, Nwanze has significant increases in commitments is the head of a global institution, also helped provide the development from member states. a head of state, or a head of a community with fresh ideas, evidence, small organization, Nwanze’s As a result of this overall increase in and tools in support of policy dialogue accomplishments on behalf of African IFAD´s portfolio of loans and grants, aimed at identifying the best ways to farmers are a reminder of what’s its ongoing investments in Africa more transform rural livelihoods. possible when you combine passion, than doubled—from US$1.3 billion at good ideas, commitment, focus, hard the start of Nwanze´s tenure to $2.7 The professional journey that led Nwanze to become a distinguished work, and dedication.” billion in 2015—benefiting more than development leader started 40 years 75 million rural people. ago in agricultural research. He worked Alongside his tireless advocacy, Nwanze is credited with reorienting Nwanze has also presided over far- as an entomologist in two CGIAR IFAD’s work to focus more on making reaching changes in the way IFAD agricultural research centers, including small-scale farming a viable business, approaches its work, with a focus on IITA from 1976 to 1979, eventually as well as expanding its presence in shifting activities from headquarters in becoming the director general of a third developing countries to increase the Rome to offices in dozens of developing one—the Africa Rice Center. organization’s effectiveness. The Prize countries.

His research background has shaped his also acknowledges Nwanze´s courage leadership of IFAD, where he sharpened in reminding African leaders to go “I know the difference it makes to see its focus on a more rigorous evidencebeyond promising development and first-hand the value that one’s work based approach to project design, is adding to someone’s life,” said change to delivering it. implementation, and impact evaluation.

Nwanze.

“I would like to dedicate this award “It is now quite clear what must be to the millions of African women who Under Nwanze´s leadership, IFAD has done to transform Africa´s agriculture silently toil to feed their families,” said also taken up a more active role in and feed this continent sustainably,” Nwanze. “No nation has been able to the global policy dialogues. Together said Obasanjo. “But all of our carefully transform itself without giving women with its partners, it advocated for an crafted strategies, plans, and programs the same rights and opportunities as emphasis on smallholder farmers in will accomplish little without able and men. Our hope for future generations the Sustainable Development Goals visionary leaders. Kanayo Nwanze is one rests with African women who bear (SDGs) adopted last year by world such leader, whose shining example, I and raise our young people who will leaders, arguing successfully that these hope, will give rise to many others.” shape the African continent in the farmers have a central role to play in achieving a world free of hunger.

Culled from ifad.org years to come.”

Got a story to share? Please email it with photos and captions every Wednesday to Katherine Lopez (k.lopez@cgiar.org), Jeffrey T. Oliver (j.oliver@cgiar.org), Catherine Njuguna (c.njuguna@cgiar.org), or Adaobi Umeokoro (a.umeokoro@cgiar.org).

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