N2Africa features as case study within the PROIntensAfrica project

N2Africa was recently selected as case study within a project called PROIntensAfrica. PROIntensAfrica aims to build a long-term research and innovation partnership between Africa and the European Union, focusing on the improvement of food and nutrition security. The project has a large number of partners in Europe (including Wageningen University and CIRAD), and in Africa (including FARA, CORAF, CCARDESA, ASARECA).

Introduction

While many N2Africa staff in some countries, both in Africa and elsewhere, taking hard-earned vacations, others are in full swing of the cropping season. That’s the nature of such a broadly-based project as N2Africa – there are always exciting things happening. Fred Kanampiu and I have just returned from a visit to Tanzania with senior staff from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which we report on below.

Foundation Officers Visit N2Africa Activities in northern Tanzania

We were delighted to share some of the excitement of N2Africa in action with Sara Boettiger, Deputy Director for Agricultural Development (Farmer Services and Systems), her Program Assistant, Mallory Robinson and our very own Senior Project Officer, Charlene McKoin. Our visit began with a courtesy call to Hon. Daudi Felix Ntibenda, the Regional Commissioner for Arusha.

Introducing Ibironke Popoola

We have the pleasure of introducing and welcoming Ms. Ibironke Popoola, a Nutrition Research Associate in the Crop Utilisation Laboratory of IITA in Ibadan, Nigeria to N2Africa. Ms. Ibironke will be helping in N2Africa Nutrition activities under the guidance of Dr. Bussie B. Maziya-Dixon (IITA-Crop Utilization Scientist).

Peter Thorne taking over N2Africa Advisory Committee tasks from Alan Duncan

Alan Duncan is stepping down from his role in N2Africa. Alan will move from Ethiopia to Scotland to pursue a range of research and science management activities at University of Strathclyde and Scotland’s Rural College while maintaining a link with ILRI. We are grateful to Alan for his wise counsel in his role in the N2Africa Leadership Team over the past years and in particular his very practical advice on interactions with livestock and on innovation platforms. We’ll miss his dry sense of humour!

The missing link

What started as an agreeable brain storming session, has, over time become the ‘Bean Thinking’ campaign to inform smallholder farming household members about good practices in common bean farming.

Leaving the mines for agriculture

N2Africa partnered with Women for Women in Kamituga (South Kivu, DRC). Together they offer the women from this region better opportunities in ‘business’ agriculture than they currently get from heavy work in the mines.