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Representatives from the banana research and industry from all over Africa had an excellent meeting in Kenya in October 2008. The ambition to develop a 10-year strategic roadmap that would harmonize and guide efforts to promote the marketing and trade of the crop in the continent has been kick-started with great contributions of key players in the Banana world and critical reviewers of this banana world. The prospects look promising and a lot of further details will be released post-conference.

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) Vice President for Policy and Partnerships Akin Adesina, was at IITA recently to talk about how agriculture could transform Nigeria from a food-deficit to a food-exporting country again.

IITA was among eight CGIAR centers that will receive over €4 million in funding from Irish Aid. Peter Power, Irish Minister of State for Overseas Development, said that the €4.4 million funding is a “central component” of Irish Aid’s response to the global food crisis.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has called for more research on the tropical root crop cassava to help poor countries cope with rising food and oil prices. Cassava is a staple food for millions of poor people in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Asia, providing as much as a third of daily calories.